Herreweghe "DKW" on Harmonia Mundi

[barry guerrero]

Hi there,

Has anyone tried this Herreweghe "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" on Harmonia Mundi? I gave this a quick skimming over. I must say, I really wasn't that impressed. While played fairly decently, Herreweghe's conducting struck me as rather four-square. It starts out with "Revelge", which sounded just slightly too tame, I think. But what bothered me most, was Henschel's copying of Fischer-Dieskau's "barking" vocal style (or lack of style). I just don't care for that, and I think it's something of a gimmick to mask shortcomings with one's own raw vocal talents. I just find all that barking too taxing to listen to. Any comments?

Barry