BaL 30.12 23 - Schubert: Winterreise

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=RobP;n1294958]

The days of the silver disc, are one hopes, numbered.

One does hope that one (well, this particular one) isn't included in that remark! I seem to recall a similar assertion a few years ago about the future of cheques as a form of payment, but they're still around.

[Maclintick]

The days of the silver disc, are one hopes, numbered.

One does hope that one (well, this particular one) isn't included in that remark! I seem to recall a similar assertion a few years ago about the future of cheques as a form of payment, but they're still around.

As is FM radio, of course. IIRC, the BBC intended to phase it out by 2014, but dropped that commitment sometime in the noughties, & downgraded it to an “aspiration”, following the botched implementation of DAB.

[CallMePaul]

Sadly, Bauer/ van Immerseel is download only (according to Presto), which is unusual for the ZigZag Territoires label but Kate Molleson appeared to suggest that it was available as a CD.

Concerning the review, I was disappointed that only two tenors were considered, given that the cycle was conceived in keys suitable for high voice. No mention of Peter Pears, Peter Schreier or Ian Biostridge to name but three. Several of the songs work better with the higher voice (Die Krahe for example) in my view. However, from the very limited number of recordings considered I agreed with AD's choice and am disappointed that I cannot ad it to my collection as I will not buy downloads for a variety of reasons, partly because I do not have suitable equipment apart from a PC with built-in speakers.

[Goon525]

Is Ian Biostridge a new greener version of the well know tenor?

[LMcD]

Downloads - smart meters - self-service check-outs - driverless cars - so many things one can enjoy resisting!

[Opinionated Knowall]

Is Ian Biostridge a new greener version of the well know tenor?

Or a sexually ambivalent flightless bird?

[gurnemanz]

If I were Mr Biostridge I might be feeling a bit miffed at not being mentioned, especially in respect of the latest effort accompanied by Thomas Adès

I've listened to and thoroughly enjoyed Thomas Bauer via Spotify - despite for me not the most appealing pianoforte sound. I may not download - a slight drawback is that Presto doesn't include the booklet. I knew Thomas Bauer from other good Lied recordings - sometimes appearing as Thomas E Bauer for some reason. He is on Immerseel's excellent 4CD Schubertiade collection on Alpha. And on several discs in the Naxos Schubert Lied edition, where on the Poets of Sensibility discs Ulrich Eisenlohr also accompanies on a fortepiano. Incidentally, the excellent Winterreise on that Naxos set, from baritone Roman Trekel, is another of my favourite recordings of the work which was not mentioned on the BaL.

I'm pleased that another of my favourites, Nathalie Stutzmann, was played. I can't remember hearing why she was ultimately excluded. Re female interpreters it was surprising that previous BaL winner, Christine Schäfer, was not mentioned.

[DoctorT]

Listening to BaL yesterday prompted me to revisit Harry Plunkett Green’s 1934 recording of ‘The Hurdy-gurdy Man’:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iW04f0olXUY

[richardfinegold]

yes cd 97

Yes, that is correct. I pulled it out and played it yesterday. I don’t speak German, but besides the beauty of the voice (and Brendel understated contribution), in comparison to DFD, Goerne seems to be more communicative and less hectoring

[smittims]

Fischer-Dieskau was reproved for 'barking' many years ago but he kept doing it. His later Wolf recordings with Barenboim can be quite severe.


Goerne recorded a superb Schwanengesang with Brendel; it's on a Decca CD with the Beetgoven cycle an die ferne Geliebte.

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=smittims;n1295055]Fischer-Dieskau was reproved for 'barking' many years ago but he kept doing it. His later Wolf recordings with Barenboim can be quite severe.

Wolves don't bark, they howl.

[Mandryka]

His later Wolf recordings with Barenboim can be quite severe.

/I].

This one is worth a listen I think

https://audite.de/de/product/CD/95599-edition_fischer_dieskau_i_h_wolf_moerike_lieder.ht ml

He was 30 max . He still had a nice voice -- slightly Hottery sometimes, not at all like the later stuff. Relatively straightforward but expressive singing.

[Mandryka]

10.30 a.m.
Building a Library
Pianist Allyson Devenish chooses the ultimate recording of Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise to buy, download or stream.

Schubert’s “Winter’s Journey” is a cycle of 24 songs across which the composer evokes a love-lorn wanderer’s trek across a desolate landscape. It is as much a psychological journey as much as a musical one, which perhaps accounts for the extremely wide range of approaches and interpretations.

Available versions:-

Miriam Abramowitsch, George Barth *
Peter Anders, Günther Weißenborn *
Alan Bennett, Albert Tiu *
Laurens Bogtman, Felix de Nobel *
Benjamin Bruns, Karola Theill
Tobias Berndt, Gregor Meyer, Heidi Steger, Uwe Steger, Gewandhauschor Leipzig
Martijn Cornet, Ragazze Quartet
Claude Darbellay, Michèle Courvoisier *
Raphaël Favre, André Fischer *
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Klaus Billing
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Maurizio Pollini *
Florian Götz, Grundmann-Quartett
Benjamin Hewat-Craw, Yuhao Guo
Christian Hilz, Eckart Sellheim
Hans Hotter, Michael Raucheisen *
Hans Hotter, Heinz Schröter *
Jorma Hynninen, Ralf Gothoni *
Yukari Komagamine, Sachiko Miyashita *
Tomasz Konieczny, Lech Napierala
Joan Martín-Royo, Pierre Réach *
Jan Martinik, David Marecek
Peter Mattei, Lars David Nilsson (SACD)
Daniel Ochoa, Cristian Peix, Vocalconsort Leipzig, Gregor Meyer
Hermann Prey, Philippe Bianconi *
Leighton Pugh, Davinia Caddy
Sviatoslav Richter, Peter Schreier *
Peder Severin, Dorte Kirkeskov*
Mitsuko Shirai, Hartmut Höll, Tabea Zimmermann, Peter Härtling *
Paul Sperry, Ian Hobson *
Rosemary Standley, Ensemble Contraste, Johan Farjot, Arnaud Thorette
Friedrich Suckel, Nikolay Borchev
Steven Tharp, Janice Wenger *
Michael Volle, Urs Liska *
Nathaniel Watson, Michael McMahon *
Scot Weir, Folkwang Gitarren Duo *
Roderick Williams, Christopher Glynn

(* = download only)

Thanks -- I wasn't aware of Hotter/Schröter.

Shame my favourite recent recording -- Schwarz/Schornsheim -- wasn't considered.

[richardfinegold]

Fischer-Dieskau was reproved for 'barking' many years ago but he kept doing it. His later Wolf recordings with Barenboim can be quite severe.


Goerne recorded a superb Schwanengesang with Brendel; it's on a Decca CD with the Beetgoven cycle an die ferne Geliebte.

The SwanSong with Brendel is also in that big Brendel box

[kernelbogey]

I heard only the latter half of this review. Allyson Devenish said of Der Leierman, the last song, that the Wanderer's journey continues (with the Hurdy-Gurdy man). I have always thought this song was about death: the Hurdy-Gurdy man, barefoot on the ice, to whom no one gives a tip... Soll ich mit dir geh'n?/Shall I go with you? It seems to me an ending of utter hopelessness.

Edit (Having checked text):
Wunderlicher Alter,
Soll ich mit dir geh'n?
Willst zu meinen Liedern
Deine Leier dreh'n?

Strange old man,
shall I go with you?
Will you turn your hurdy-gurdy
to my songs?