“Bezaubert…” is an album comprised of newly written songs with orchestra by composer Oliver Gruhn. The album contains two songs by Richard Strauss which have been completed and orchestrated by Oliver, followed by three song cycles written by him. Staffan is performing in the second cycle, Der König ohne Land, which contains seven songs to poems by Hermann Hesse.
The other songs are performed by soprano Diana Schnürpel. Oliver focuses on poems by Hermann Hesse, who is his foremost inspiration, and the album is dedicated to the memory of Hermann Hesse on his 150th birthday.
The recording was made in Miralles Saal in Hamburg during 2024, and Symphoniker Hamburg are playing under internationally renowned conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing. Producer and editor was Christopher Alder with mixing and mastering by Marcus Herzog.
Our preference naturally goes to the more theatrical cycle, inspired by Hesse: ” Der König ohne Land / The King Without a Kingdom”: the musical setting rivals the best German Romantic composers. […] it is a highly successful fusion of voice and orchestra. In this respect, baritone Staffan Liljas reveals himself to be refined, measured, and of a subtlety equal to that of the Hamburg orchestra’s instrumentalists. […] The album “Bezaubert…” received the CLICK award from ClassiqueNews Spring 2026. — Alexandre Pham for ClassiqueNews
