Hey David - Long time. I never thought I would be listening to leider, but I somehow acquired a Tacet CD of Mozart's lieder sung by Ibolya Verebics and it is absolutely wonderful. I recently retired and I think I want to expand my musical universe into some different genres like this and maybe some medieval music. Gregorian chant and the like. I have a little of it in my collection now, but there is a lot out there, so I hear.
Lieder anyone?
This niche within classical music, largely leaves my cold a defect in my character I'm sure. I suppose it reached a sort of peak in 19th century Germany, becoming an important part of Schubert's output for example.
But and it's a big but, there is Mahler and Richard Straus, two of my favourite 20th century composers anyway. They both produced achingly beautiful, melancholic song cycles and I never tire of listening to them. If you want to explore them, then anything by Janet Baker or Elizabeth Scwarzkopf are just perfect for Mahler and Leontine Price's 4 Last Songs for Strauss. You can't go wrong with them.
David