The rise of the art song as a genre toward the end of the 18th century was favoured not only by developments in the world of music but also by the emergence of a bourgeois culture. It continues to enjoy popularity today. This new CD by baritone Erwin Belakowitsch and pianist Christoph Berner offers an exciting selection of songs by Franz Schubert, from the Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen (Travel book from the Austrian Alps) op. 62 by Ernst Krenek and Gustav Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). The dramatization of intertwined songs allows a direct comparison of the diverse handling of the composer’s take on the subject 'Longing to Escape', which conveys melancholy and pain as well as confidence and hope.