“One of the most striking song interpreters meets one of the most prominent jazz pianists.”

The Folly of Desire, performed by Brad Mehldau and Ian Bostridge, is Concerti‘s Album of the Month!

“For the tenor, Mehldau has written ‘The Folly of Desire’, variants of lust and passionate rapture on poetry by Shakespeare, Blake, Brecht, Goethe, Yeats, Auden and Cummings. The fascinating cycle enriches the repertoire. Bostridge impresses with his interpretation through his direct, natural approach. His slim tenor masterfully maintains the balance between classical lied, jazz, chanson singing and the Great American Songbook. Mehldau creates the piano part with his much-celebrated polystylistic counterpoint skills.

“The reference points of this cycle from Franz Schubert to Porter are also inspiring: Schubert’s ‘Nacht der Träume’, for example, Bostridge sings in a wonderfully floating, even otherworldly manner. Mehldau intensifies this magic of the ghostly with subtle rubatos in the piano. And Cole Porter’s ‘Night and Day’ gets the right ambiguity of exuberance and coolness.“

Eckhard Weber (translated from the original German text)

Read the full review HERE.