In contrast to the general acceptance of moaning about the level of today's singers in comparison to the oh so much better past, today there are increasingly excellently trained young singers who impressively prove the opposite: high and highest singing artistry. Only the new generation of tenors leaves something to be desired. But this has always been the case - Leo Slezak lamented the fatal situation of tenors already a hundred years ago - and it seems to be less a question of generations than of the limited reservoir of suitable vocal material. In addition, tenors are burned up remarkably quickly in daily opera operations because they rise too quickly too early or because they are not accompanied in their career by a sensitive teacher serving as guardian angel who protects them from premature voice wear.

The soprano Anna Lucia Richter clearly belongs to the ranks of excellently trained young singers. She has not only a perfectly trained voice, but also a bright intellect, which allows her not only to sing Schubert songs in a heartrendingly beautiful way, but also to create them individually and with enormous vigor, using her voice to her heart to the fullest. You can experience Richter’s skills on her debut album Heimer, dedicated to Schubert, which leaves you speechless as a listener. Last but not least, the young singer holds several trump cards in her hand, such as the crystal-clear recording technique of the Dutch label Pentatone, but above all the congenial co-creation of the songs by the pianist Gerold Huber, who has made a name for himself as a regular accompanist of the baritone Christian Gerhaher. Something better than this pianist could not happen to Anna Lucia Richter. And then there is the solo clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic, Matthias Schorn, who, in the song "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen", which is more of a full-blown concert aria than a song, makes a decisive contribution to the fact that the deep homesickness expressed through singing becomes plausibly pitiful in all its nuances. In this song, one of his last songs, Schubert requires the singer to be confident in coloratura and to master an enormous vocal range, not to mention the ability to convey the painful feeling of homesickness in a credible manner. Anna Lucia Richter possesses all these qualities with apparent ease, which, however, requires not only great talent, but above all many years of vocal training and strict control of what has been achieved and its indispensable permanent refinement. Since the age of nine, the singer has been on the laborious path to becoming a professional, first taught by her mother Regina Dohmen, trained by Kurt Widmer in Basel and brought to maturity with distinction by Klesie Kelly-Moog at the Musikhochschule Köln. Numerous international prizes and appearances with renowned orchestras and conductors followed. Her fresh and youthful sounding and perfectly guided voice has obviously gained in expressiveness and assertiveness thereby. May an understanding and strict vocal coach or a corresponding vocal coach as guardian angel watch over her, so that her considerable vocal art is preserved for a long time.

Anna Lucia Richter, soprano
Gerold Huber, piano
Matthias Schorn, clarinet (on track 15)