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Lines of Life: Schubert & Kurtág
Benjamin Appl (baritone), György Kurtág (piano), James Baillieu (piano), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Csaba Bencze (trombone), Gergely Lukác (tuba)
Awards:
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Nominated - Vocal Music
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2026, Shortlisted - Vocal
Appl’s ever-expressive baritone is inf initely characterful here in these diverse settings. He is a thoughtful, revealing interpreter of Kurtág’s verse, and his own admission that he finds one...
Lines of Life: Schubert & Kurtág
Benjamin Appl (baritone), György Kurtág (piano), James Baillieu (piano), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Csaba Bencze (trombone), Gergely Lukác (tuba)
Purchase product
Awards:
-
International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Nominated - Vocal Music
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
-
The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2026, Shortlisted - Vocal
Appl’s ever-expressive baritone is inf initely characterful here in these diverse settings. He is a thoughtful, revealing interpreter of Kurtág’s verse, and his own admission that he finds one...
About
Benjamin Appl met Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag in 2019 and has worked with him ever since. 'He has shaped me both as a musician and as a human being, perhaps more than anyone else,' says Appl.
This album alternates Romantic German lieder by Schubert and Brahms with vocal pieces by Kurtag, five of which are world premiere recordings. Kurtag himself is at the piano for two of the songs by Schubert and Brahms; while the German baritone's old and trusted friends Pierre-Laurent Aimard and James Baillieu join him for the other works in this programme, all under the artistic direction of Kurtag, ending with a fascinating recorded interview with Gyuri bacsi ('Uncle George') by Benjamin Appl, who tells us: 'My aim in this album is to give listeners a glimpse into the infinite universe of Gyorgy Kurtag, a shy procrastinator, stern self-critic, hesitant researcher, introverted questioner, unpretentious intellectual, brilliant composer and an extraordinary human being.'
Contents and tracklist
- Benjamin Appl (soloist), Csaba Bencze, Gergely Lukác
- Benjamin Appl and György Kurtág, Benjamin Appl (soloist)
- Benjamin Appl and György Kurtág, Benjamin Appl (soloist)
- Benjamin Appl and György Kurtág, Benjamin Appl (soloist)
Spotlight on this release
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Celebrating György Kurtág
19th Feb 2026
On the Hungarian composer's hundredth birthday, artists including Benjamin Appl, Quatuor Arod and Jean-Guihen Queyras share memories of the man and his music.
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Benjamin Appl on Lines of Life
24th Feb 2025
The German baritone discusses working with György Kurtág (who turned 99 last week) on his Hölderlin-Gesänge and other works - and why the resulting album 'turned out to be the most extensive (and expensive) recording I’ve ever made'...
Awards and reviews
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International Classical Music Awards2026Nominated - Vocal Music
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Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2025
-
The New York TimesBest Classical Music Albums of 2025
June 2025
Appl’s ever-expressive baritone is inf initely characterful here in these diverse settings. He is a thoughtful, revealing interpreter of Kurtág’s verse, and his own admission that he finds one of the Hölderlin poems impenetrable is suitably disarming, not least when the composer himself counters that he had to write the music to find its meaning.
5th February 2025
The performance of the six Hölderlin-Gesänge is the deserving centrepiece of the programme. These are typical Kurtág miniatures, mostly with no accompaniment, and do not waste a single note...Alongside are seven songs by Schubert and one by Brahms, beautifully sung by Appl and two of them accompanied, with generous pedalling, by Kurtág himself.
March 2025
This music requires a high level of histrionic commitment from the singer, which Benjamin Appl delivers with relish…the album] is all the more treasurable for remaining so true to the core qualities and convictions of György Kurtág.
It’s a beautifully realised collection, not only evidence of Appl’s command of a wide-ranging repertoire, but also a wonderful tribute to one of the greatest composers and musicians of our time.
11th February 2025
a rigorous but eloquent recital interleaving the miniature enigmas of the Hungarian veteran Gyorgy Kurtag (almost 99) with seven heartbreaking Schubert songs and a slice of plum pudding by Brahms. At its centre lies Kurtag’s Holderlin-Gesange, six mostly unaccompanied songs where Appl’s warmly beautiful voice is at its most alert and varied, colouring each note differently, with shock interjections from a tuba and trombone. This album is something special.
The New York Times 18th December 2025
this album is as much a document of Kurtag and the baritone Benjamin Appl’s friendship as it is of some artistic endeavor. Touchingly, Kurtag even joins at the piano for Brahms’s “Sonntag.”
