Schweikert / Berchtold - Im Bitteren Menschenland - Music CD

The songs recorded for this release span a whole female composer's life: Still a student at Munz'sches Konservatorium in Karlsruhe, Germany, Margarete Schweikert wrote the songs Der Page on a poem of Frida Schanz and I'm Schilf on verses of A. W. Stern. They were premiered in a concert given by the students on June 7, 1905. Three of the 'Vier Lieder nach Gedichten von Martha Kropp' were performed for the first time on January 28 in 1955 in a concert arranged by the GEDOK Karlsruhe in presence of the composer. Her teachers were the violinist Carl Wendling and the composer Joseph Haas, a pupil of Max Reger, both lecturers at the local Knigliche Konservatorium. During these years, Margarete Schweikert expanded her activities as violinist and as composer. She performed not only in Karlsruhe, but in other Southern German cities like Wrzburg, Nrnberg and Stuttgart. In the programs that she organized, she often combined chamber music for violin with her songs. Again and again renowned singers campaigned for her songs. One example is the baritone Otto Wessbecher, who, from 1911 on, included Gomorra frequently in his programmes. This release features renowned tenor Bernhard Berchtold and pianist Jeannette La-Deur performing a selection of Margarete's lieder, based on texts by Ehrler, Goethe, Goll, and more.