Erich J. Wolff was a friend and contemporary of Schoenberg and Zemlinsky – his songs were highly successful and much admired before the First World War. Wolff’s tragic early death, however, contributed to his music being almost entirely forgotten today. Mostly dating from his final decade, the songs in this selection range from the charming children’s cycle Vier Kinderlieder von Richard Dehmel, to the incomparably profound cemetery scene of Friedhof. The recital concludes with the radiant Mein Meister, one of Wolff’s very last songs.

Austrian mezzo-soprano Ida Aldrian is currently a member of the ensemble at the Staatsoper Hamburg, where she previously attended the International Opera Studio. From 2015 to 2018, Aldrian was a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. Guest engagements have taken her to the Zurich Opera House and the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, Berlin. In concert, she has worked with renowned conductors such as Simone Young, Kent Nagano, Martin Haselböck, Thomas Hengelbrock and Fabio Luisi.

German pianist Klaus Simon has a particular focus on song, and at the heart of his work as a Lieder accompanist are the German late-Romantic and early-modern composers. For Naxos he has recorded the complete songs by Pfitzner (Complete Lieder, Vols. 1–5 [8572602, 8572603, 8573081, 8573082 and 8573785]) and Korngold (Songs, Vols. 1 and 2 [8572027, 8573083]).