Bobo & Herzfeld

In addition to singer Bobo’s crystal-clear, expressive voice, the instrumental lineup—which could certainly be called daring—was a defining feature of this project: they performed on, in, and with prepared pianos or ringing metal. After the 2018 album *Blick In Den Strom*, this wonderful endeavor seemed to have come to an end, with only the occasional small concert here and there. But now Bobo + Herzfeld are back, offering a completely fresh take on eight of their free-spirited arrangements. Added to these are two entirely new (or at least previously unreleased) compositions: the song “Frage und Antwort” (whose lyrics were written by Bobo’s father) and a musical setting of Friedrich Rückert’s “Du bist ein Schatten am Tage.” The latter opens the CD, which runs just over half an hour, and at first one might think that Bobo is overdoing it a bit with her fervor, but barely a minute has passed of this ultimately very moving song that her vocal artistry has already synchronized with Herzfeld’s superbly orchestrated (now often very restrained and perhaps all the more powerful for it) art music—not a trace of exaggerated vibrato or pseudo-erotic breath control, nothing schmaltzy or kitschy.

Whether “Bleib bei mir,” “Die Lieb” (both with lyrics by Goethe), or “Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen” (Rilke)—these new arrangements are different, still full of inner drama, yet rather simple in their accompaniment of piano, accordion, and a few strings. Eichendorff’s “Der irre Spielmann” thrives (almost) solely on button-clattering accordion sounds, and “Die Lieb,” too, is arranged in an almost avant-garde style as a tremulous accordion piece. Herzfeld embellishes “Wanderes Nachtlied” (of course: Goethe) with a melodica, harmonium, and sounds that I would attribute to the upper register of a plucked double bass (though it could also be that he literally wrested these tones from his (prepared) piano).

And winding its way through all this heart-wrenchingly beautiful music is Bobo’s voice, which remains flawless and, with advancing age, continues to explore ever-new expressive possibilities and artistic facets—a dream!

When “Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen” even features two-part harmony, or the closing track “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” (another text by Rückert) subtly veers toward chamber jazz, it could signal a new direction for this project—one they very much hope won’t fall silent again for another seven years.