Album: Schumann Frauenliebe / Lie-derkreis – Lemieux / Blumenthal, (Naïve)

Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux stole the show as Mistress Quickly in Richard Jones's production of Falstaff at Glyndebourne in May.

Hers is a supple, bright-toned voice, ideal for the stage but less suited to lieder. The strongest performance in this Schumann recital with pianist Daniel Blumenthal is Die Löwenbraut, more scena than song. There are some enticing moments in Liederkreis, though far too much chest voice, and Lemieux is too feisty to convince as the demure heroine of Frauenliebe und-leben.