Wolfgang Holzmair.(Robert and Clara Schumann Lieder/Kerner Lieder)

* "ROBERT AND CLARA SCHUMANN LIEDER/KERNER LIEDER" With Cooper, piano. Texts and translations. Philips 462 610-2

On the recital stage, Austrian baritone Wolfgang Holzmair cuts a handsome if somewhat eccentric figure, deeply immersed in his material and physically underlining points he's already made with his voice. Seldom becoming precious or tedious, Holzmair's interpretations seem so sincere, the singer so genuinely caught up in what he's doing, that his enthusiasm is often contagious. Listening to him on recordings, one gets the sense that his approach is pretty much unchanged: personal and intense. He's probably gesturing away in the recording studio.

In this collection of lieder by both Schumanns, Holzmair expresses his intensity primarily through gentleness. He uses his extremely attractive instrument, supple and almost tenorial, to caress the notes with loving care, as if he were polishing delicate works of art in his own home. He almost never raises his voice, but he often drops it to such softness that he seems to be singing for himself, not for the microphones, particularly in the many melancholy numbers. He colors his voice skillfully--except for a misguided ...