Raff's vocal music is a substantial body of work. Half a dozen operas, several large scale works for combinations of soloists, chorus and orchestra, a few orchestral songs, some sets of a cappella pieces and over 100 songs and lieder for voice and piano. Like the rest of his oeuvre, these works enjoyed great popularity and were then forgotten. Sadly, they haven't shared in his recording renaissance - only one CD of vocal music is currently available.

See the CD discography for full listings of all the recordings mentioned here. Recommended recordings are marked in the discography.

Songs from Sanges-Frühing & Maria Stuart Lieder
The seductive beauty of Raff's vocal writing is amply demonstrated by the mezzo Andrea Meláth in this Hungaroton CD which features 15 songs from Sanges-Frühling op.98 and four from the Maria Stuart Lieder op.172 (HCD 32256 - review). The programme has been carefully chosen to give a wide variety of mood and style and includes some quite substantial pieces. Meláth is very impressive - her rich tone and careful characterisation are well captured in a warm and atmospheric recording. Thoroughly recommended.

Only one other song by Raff is available in a relatively modern recording. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau turns in a predictably persuasive performance of Unter den Palmen, one of the numbers from the Blondel de Nestle op.211 cycle. It is a good LP transfer, but is currently only available as part of a three CD set from EMI which is packed with similarly unusual (and admittedly very interesting) romantic repertoire (7243 5 67349-2).

Ständchen WoO.22 and Sie Still op.173 No.8, wildly popular in their day, are only to be heard on historic recordings that are almost 100 years old. Although the artists are of the first rank (McCormack and Schumann-Hienk), they cannot be recommended except to the curious.

If you are finding it difficult to buy any of these CDs, the "Where to buy CDs" page may help.

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