Lieder anyone?

I have about a dozen versions of Winterreise, and I listen mostly to Goerne because I like his performance and it is one that has been ripped to my server.  Strauss' Four Last Songs has so many great performances; I tend to listen mostly to Schwartzkopf and Janowitz.  My other often played lieder recordings is Mahlers Das Lied von der Erde with Brigitte Faesbaender.

There are some very good modern lieder composers that are worth looking into.  I think you could pick up any Eric Whitacre recording and find something you will like.

I don't understand the languages of most of the lieder I listen to, but, I do know what the songs are about from having read the translations.  I think this does ad to the experience.

There are plenty of songs that are sung in English, such as those of Eric Whitacre that I mentioned above.  Another living American song composer that is quite interesting is Craig Urquhart.  British mid-century composers, like Britten, also wrote some interesting songs too.  

I also love the Norman Four Last Songs.  
 

One more suggestion: Cantaloube “Songs of the Auverne.”  

I like the Te Kanawa and Victoria de Los Angeles versions too, but the utterly unique singing style and voice of Davrath makes her version my choice. Being so lazy, I don’t listen to it much because it is on lp and not on my music server (I should subscribe to a service).