BRAHMS: LIEDER. Nathalie Stutzman, contralto; Inger Sodergren,...

BRAHMS: LIEDER. Nathalie Stutzman, contralto; Inger Sodergren, piano. (RCA Victor Red Seal--BMG) * 1/2

This young French singer makes a positive impression in a pleasing mix of 20 of the composer’s familiar and less-known items, ending solidly with the “Vier ernst Gesange.” But it’s not enough. Despite a strong stylistic profile, broad dynamics, clear German and attention to niceties of musical detail--intonation is usually reliable, but legato appears less consistently--the effort lacks the passion and contrasts of truly committed singing. The texts are pronounced but not colored; real feelings don’t arise out of all the expressive words. On the other hand, Sodergren, though in a few songs sounding as if a room away, delivers a tour de force of pianistic probing, virtuosic colorations and Brahmsian lyricism. She does it mostly alone.

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