Forbidden Fruit Benjamin Appl & James Baillieu

• Anonymous: I Will Give My Love an Apple:
• 1Anonymous: I Will Give My Love an Apple01:31
• Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924): Requiem, Op. 48:
• 2Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48: VII. In paradisum (Arr. for Piano by James Baillieu)01:47
• Anonymous: The Lord God had planted a garden in Eden:
• 3Anonymous: The Lord God had planted a garden in Eden00:05
• Ivor Gurney (1890 - 1937): The Apple Orchard:
• 4Gurney: The Apple Orchard00:48
• Anonymous: The Lord God Took the Man and Put Him in the Garden of Eden:
• 5Anonymous: The Lord God Took the Man and Put Him in the Garden of Eden00:05
• Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903): Goethe-Lieder:
• 6Wolf: Goethe-Lieder: No. 50, Ganymed05:14
• Kurt Weill (1900 - 1950): Youkali:
• 7Weill: Youkali02:54
• Anonymous: It is not Good for the Man to Be Alone:
• 8Anonymous: It is not Good for the Man to Be Alone00:04
• Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963): Chansons gaillardes, FP 42:
• 9Poulenc: Chansons gaillardes, FP 42: No. 6, L'offrande01:01
• Anonymous: Gardens of pleasure:
• 10Anonymous: Gardens of pleasure00:04
• Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947): À Chloris:
• 11Hahn: À Chloris03:09
• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949): 4 Lieder, Op. 36:
• 12Strauss: 4 Lieder, Op. 36: No. 1, Das Rosenband03:02
• Hugo Wolf: Mörike-Lieder:
• 13Wolf: Mörike-Lieder: No. 32, An die Geliebte03:26
• Anonymous: Adam and His Wife Were Both Naked, and They Felt No Shame:
• 14Anonymous: Adam and His Wife Were Both Naked, and They Felt No Shame00:06
• Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953): 3 Songs, Op. 3:
• 15Quilter: 3 Songs, Op. 3: No. 2, Now sleeps the Crimson Petal01:58
• Anonymous: And They Became One Flesh:
• 16Anonymous: And They Became One Flesh00:04
• Hugo Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch:
• 17Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch: No. 17, Und willst Du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen02:08
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): 3 chansons de Bilitis, L. 90:
• 18Debussy: 3 chansons de Bilitis, L. 90: No. 2, La Chevelure03:33
• Anonymous: You’re Free to Eat From Any Tree in the Garden:
• 19Anonymous: You’re Free to Eat From Any Tree in the Garden00:05
• Francis Poulenc: Chansons gaillardes, FP 42:
• 20Poulenc: Chansons gaillardes, FP 42: No. 5, Couplets bachiques01:29
• Arnold Schönberg (1874 - 1951): Brettllieder:
• 21Schönberg: Brettllieder: No. 7, Arie Aus dem Spiegel von Arkadien "Seit ich so viele Weiber sah"03:18
• Leonello Casucci (1885 - 1975): The Fruit of the Tree Was Pleasing ro the Eye / Just a Gigolo (Arr. for Voice and Piano by James Baillieu):
• 22Casucci: The Fruit of the Tree Was Pleasing ro the Eye / Just a Gigolo (Arr. for Voice and Piano by James Baillieu)01:54
• Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907): To a Devil, EG 154:
• 23Grieg: To a Devil, EG 15401:56
• Anonymous: Now the Serpent Was More Crafty Than Any of the Wild Animals:
• 24Anonymous: Now the Serpent Was More Crafty Than Any of the Wild Animals00:07
• Francis Poulenc: Le bestiaire, FP 15:
• 25Poulenc: Le bestiaire, FP 15: No. 1, Le Serpent00:29
• Anonymous: But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil You Shall Not Eat:
• 26Anonymous: But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil You Shall Not Eat00:06
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Romanzen und Balladen, Vol. III, Op. 53:
• 27Schumann: Romanzen und Balladen, Vol. III, Op. 53: No. 2 Lorelei01:06
• Romanzen und Balladen, Vol. I, Op. 45:
• 28Schumann: Romanzen und Balladen, Vol. I, Op. 45: No. 2, Frühlingsfahrt03:00
• Anonymous: You will be like God, knowing good and evil:
• 29Anonymous: You will be like God, knowing good and evil00:05
• Fanny Mendelssohn (1805 - 1847): 12 Lieder, Op. 9:
• 30Mendelssohn: 12 Lieder, Op. 9: No. 7, Die Nonne02:24
• Lothar Brühne (1900 - 1958): She Took of Its Fruit and Ate / Kann Denn Liebe Sünde Sein:
• 31Brühne: She Took of Its Fruit and Ate / Kann Denn Liebe Sünde Sein01:29
• Jake Heggie (b. 1961): The Snake:
• 32Heggie: The Snake03:15
• Anonymous: The Eyes of Both of Them Were Opened:
• 33Anonymous: The Eyes of Both of Them Were Opened00:05
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Heidenröslein, D. 257:
• 34Schubert: Heidenröslein, D. 25701:36
• Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118:
• 35Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 11803:30
• Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962): Balladenbuch, Op. 18:
• 36Eisler: Balladenbuch, Op. 18: No. 2, Die Ballade zum Paragraphen 21802:48
• Anonymous: The Serpent Tricked Me, and I Ate:
• 37Anonymous: The Serpent Tricked Me, and I Ate00:04
• Robert Schumann: Lieder und Gesänge aus "Wilhelm Meister", Op. 98a:
• 38Schumann: Lieder und Gesänge aus "Wilhelm Meister", Op. 98a: No. 4, Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen ass02:17
• Anonymous: He Placed Cherubim To Guard the Way To the Tree of Life:
• 39Anonymous: He Placed Cherubim To Guard the Way To the Tree of Life00:06
• Gabriel Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48:
• 40Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48: VII. In paradisum (II) (Arr. for Piano by James Baillieu)01:58
• Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911): Symphony No. 2:
• 41Mahler: Symphony No. 2: IV. Urlicht (Arr. for Voice and Piano by James Baillieu)05:12
• Total Runtime01:09:18

Info for Forbidden Fruit

Temptation, prohibition, good, evil... ‘how relevant are these in today's world?’ asks Benjamin Appl. With the complicity of pianist James Baillieu, we are taken on a musical arc from simple folk songs through to the great song composers such as Schubert, Schumann and Wolf, along the way visiting the Impressionists Debussy and Poulenc, exploring ‘new objectivity’ with Weill and Eisler and enjoying compositions by Casucci, Heggie and others. The metaphor of forbidden fruit gives Benjamin and James a wide ran ge of possible interpretations. Whilst some of the song settings centre on sensuality, others focus on socially immoral topics such as incest or sensitive subjects such as abortion. The German baritone embodies each of these stories with a passion and dram atic sense that makes this album a kaleidoscopic and astonishing journey through time and space.

Benjamin Appl, baritone
James Baillieu, piano

Benjamin Appl
Hailed as ‘the most promising of today’s up-and-coming song recitalists’ (Financial Times), baritone Benjamin Appl is celebrated by audiences and critics alike for a voice that ‘belongs to the last of the old great masters of song’ with ‘an almost infinite range of colours’ (Suddeutsche Zeitung), ‘exacting attention to text’ (New York Times), and artistry that’s described as ‘unbearably moving’ (The Times). Named Gramophone Award Young Artist of the Year in 2016, Appl was a member of the BBC New Generation Artist scheme from 2014-16, as well as a Wigmore Hall Emerging Artist and ECHO Rising Star for the 2015-16 season, appearing at major venues throughout Europe, including the Barbican Centre London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie Paris and Cologne and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg. He was signed exclusively to SONY Classical between 2016 and 2021. He recently partnered up with Alpha Classics for a long term collaboration of multiple albums.

Appl started in music as a young chorister at the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen, later continuing his studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and eventually at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. He had the good fortune of being mentored by the legendary singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Appl says, ‘my years of working with Fischer-Dieskau were invaluable and had a hugely formative influence on me. He is an inspiration – someone who is always searching and seeking a deeper understanding of music and of life. He was a role model for how to prosper as an artist, never just delivering, but each time creating.’

Appl is increasingly in demand on the world’s most prestigious stages, collaborating with ensembles such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Staatskapelle Dresden, Philharmonia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Hamburg Ballet, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Players & Consort, Les Violons du Roy, Concerto Köln, and with multiple BBC orchestras. He made his BBC Proms debut in September 2015 singing Brahms’ Triumphlied with Marin Alsop and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

An established recitalist, he has performed at the Ravinia, Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein, Edinburgh International, Life Victoria Barcelona, Leeds Lieder and Oxford Lieder festivals, deSingel Antwerp, Heidelberger Frühling, and at the KlavierFestival Ruhr. He has performed at major concert venues including Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Musée de Louvre, Paris, in addition to which he is a regular recitalist at Wigmore Hall and at the Schubertiade Hohenems and Schwarzenberg. He works closely with pianists Graham Johnson and James Baillieu.

Appl is equally sought for his work in oratorio; notable past works include Bach’s Magnificat, St John and St Matthew passions, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Händel’s The Messiah, Haydn’s The Creation and Britten’s War Requiem. In 2017 he performed in the internationally televised ZDF Adventskonzert concert at the Dresden Frauenkirche with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann.

Recent highlights include his role debut as Guglielmo Così fan tutte with Classical Opera Company; Aeneas Dido and Aeneas in concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington; three recitals at New York City’s Park Avenue Armory featuring all three Schubert song cycles; a debut performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; his Paris orchestral debut at the Saint-Denis Festival with the Orchestre National de Lille; and debut recitals at Grand Théâtre in Geneva, Linz Brucknerhaus, Salzburg Mozarteum and Spivey Hall, Atlanta. He was honoured to have been invited by the Federal President of Germany to appear as soloist at the commemoration of November 9th 2021 (a date of great significance in Germany) where he performed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other esteemed guests. Additionally, Benjamin recently appeared on BBC Radio 3 in his own programme A Singer’s World.

The 2021-22 season will open with Appl making his operatic debut at the Liceu, Barcelona as Harlequin Ariadne auf Naxos. This is followed by a full schedule of concerts across Europe and the USA, including recitals and concerts at Salle Gaveau Paris, Berlin Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Boston Celebrity Series and Dallas Opera; concerts with the Sofia Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie, and the Berlin Barock Solisten and ongoing residencies with the Jenaer Philharmonie and Hamburg Ballet.

Appl’s growing discography includes Schumann duets with Ann Murray (DBE), accompanied by Malcolm Martineau; his debut solo disc ’Stunden, Tage, Ewigkeiten’ accompanied by James Baillieu, which was released in April 2016 on Champs Hill records; and a live recording of Schubert lieder with Graham Johnson for the Wigmore Hall Live label. His first solo album for SONY Classical, ‚Heimat’, was Gramophone nominated and won the prestigious Prix Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Best Lieder Singer) at the 2017/18 Académie du Disque Lyrique Orphées d’Or. Most recently, Appl released a recording of Bach with Concerto Köln for SONY Classical, as well as Sibelius’s Kullervo with the BBC Scottish Symphony and Thomas Dausgaard for Hyperion Records.

Booklet for Forbidden Fruit