Dvorak: Lieder (Songs)

Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine July 2004

Disc of the Year 2004 (Classics Today)

"We're hearing of more and more wonderful mezzo-sopranos at the moment - you can fill in the names - and one of the most delightful is Bernarda Fink. Her upbringing, born to Slovenian parents but raised in Argentina, makes her a fine interpreter of both Eastern European and Spanish music. Here, she sings a collection of Dvorák's songs, delightful pieces full of melody and invention."
(Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine July 2004)

"Fink and Vignoles are the proverbial dream team. They proved themselves so in 2002 with their Schumann CD, and their credentials are still unimpeachable. A gem."
(William Dart New Zealand Herald)

"A wholly delectable disc, and one that should win many new friends for these songs in the composer's centenary year." CHORAL & SONG DISC OF THE MONTH, BBC Music Magazine, August 2004

"An all-Dvorák song recital may still seem a luxury.
The Gypsy Songs, and not just their famous fourth ('Songs my mother taught me'), have found a secure place in the repertoire, but not much else is heard at all regularly either in recital or on disc.
They may lack the variety of mood to constitute a fully satisfying programme on their own, but they never fail to give pleasure. One cause of the continued unfamiliarity of the B160 set is that Czech is an alien language to most recitalists. Not, however, to the Argentinian mezzo Bernarda Fink, who comes from a Slovenian family, lived in Prague for a while and has made a special study of Czech music. Her diction is very clear. Her tone is rich and deep, and the manner has warmth and dignity, though these seem to be its limits. If you come to the Gypsy Songs with Anne Sofie von Otter's recording in mind, you'll miss, in Fink's singing, a lot of colour, imagination and temperament.
But there may be some relief, too. Her recording with Bengt Forsberg is exciting but assertive. Fink and Vignoles may prove more companionable. But this new issue is most welcome: tasteful and often lovely performances and a generously comprehensive selection." Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010