Alexander Krichel Leise Schubert#

Winterreise, or Winter’s Journey, was composed in 1827, just a year before Schubert’s premature death. The song cycle contains some of his greatest music – by turn highly emotional, desolate and spare, and with a sense of alienation and loss that makes the listener shudder even after repeated hearings. Schubert was especially proud of these songs, writing to his friend and fellow composer Josef von Spaun: ‘I will sing you a cycle of eerie songs.

Peter Gülke and the Brandenburger Symphoniker recorded Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major, "The Great" in June of 2017 for MDG, marking 20 years since Gülke last appeared on that audiophile label. It is also significant for being Gülke's return to recording after a long absence, and the symphony was recorded less than two months after the conductor turned 83. This performance of Schubert's last completed symphony is fairly modern and mainstream in its tempos, ensemble size, and performance style, and while Gülke has made no attempt at re-creating a period performance in terms of instrumental techniques or interpretation, he delivers a lucid and energetic rendition that does justice to Schubert's vast symphonic form and relentless rhythmic drive,

Pianist Anna Malikova cultivates a big, singing tone and a generous, lyrical style that couldn’t befit Schubert’s “little” A major sonata better. Her impressively even, pearl-like scales and dynamic thrust in the finale, for example, leave Maria João Pires’ recent DG traversal at the starting gate while looking Richter’s reference version squarely in the eye. Her flexible phrasing of the first movement proves every bit as stylish and “echt-Viennese” as Paul Badura-Skoda’s rendition, but with a surer technique. Unlike Richter or András Schiff, Malikova doesn’t repeat the first-movement development and recapitulation, which is just as well.

Listeners who think they know Schubert's popular Quartettsatz in C minor and String Quintet in C major should try this 2008 recording of those works by the Artemis Quartet. The driving Quartettsatz beginning the disc is justly famous for inaugurating Schubert's maturity as a chamber music composer, but the tender Andante following it here is a rarely recorded fragment that would have furnished the Quartettsatz with a slow movement had Schubert completed the movement.

This 2018 release marks a notable step for Germany's audiophile MDG label, which has at least mostly made, not studio recordings, but recordings in spots acoustically appropriate to the music. Here they present North Germany's dogma chamber orchestra (the name refers to the Dogma 95 credo of Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier) in what is purported to be a live concert at the Konzerthaus in Dortmund. How live it is may be open to debate; although an audience is pictured in the album graphics, total silence is maintained. You might want to invest in whatever manufacturer made the cough drops used to calm the throats of a Dortmund audience in January, and there is no applause.

Après plusieurs albums chez Naxos au sein de l'édition intégrale des Lieder de Schubert, Wolfgang Holzmair revient à ce compositeur, cette fois chez Capriccio ! Le baryton autrichien présente le Voyage d'Hiver D911, en compagnie du pianiste Andreas Haefliger, auteur notamment de la série "Perspectives" chez Avie Records. Une interprétation opalescente et immaculée, tout simplement incroyable ! Une nouvelle version de référence.

Robert Schumann graced the cello repertoire not only with one of its most prominent concertos, but also with four sets of satisfying miniatures. Although all but the Op. 102 set on folk tunes was originally conceived for other instruments, it is with the cello that they have found their true home. Brazilian-born cellist Antonio Meneses does a superb job demonstrating to listeners why these works are best suited for his instrument. His sound is quite lean but never tinny. The result is a soaring and clear projection that easily rises above the piano. His interpretation is flexible and insightful, quickly changing gears between the contrasting character pieces. Intonation, articulation, and pacing are all quite refined.

Whenever the Borodin Quartet notches up an anniversary, so too does its cellist (and so in 2005, while the ensemble marks 60 years as what the Russians call the Quartet named Borodin , we also toast Valentin Berlinsky on his 80th birthday). This is very much as it should be: Valentin Berlinsky is both patriarch and soul of the quartet. As anchorman throughout of the group which turned to the Soviet authorities for its present name in 1955, Berlinsky has lived through many changes of personnel in the early years, guided the quartet through difficult times at home and on countless tours, and still imparts his ineffably cultured tones to its latest incarnation.

Isaac Stern's influence will linger with violinists for many years, and his recorded legacy will endure as Sony finds new ways to repackage his extraordinary body of work. This Masterworks Expanded Edition consists of analog and digital recordings made between 1964 and 1996; except for the bonus track, this 2004 reissue corresponds to the second disc in the 2002 set, "In Tribute and Celebration." Schubert's Piano Trio in B flat major, which Stern performs brilliantly with cellist Leonard Rose and pianist Eugene Istomin, is the oldest recording here, but it is more enjoyable than it was on LP because the sound has been substantially improved through careful remastering.

Isaac Stern's influence will linger with violinists for many years, and his recorded legacy will endure as Sony finds new ways to repackage his extraordinary body of work. This Masterworks Expanded Edition consists of analog and digital recordings made between 1964 and 1996; except for the bonus track, this 2004 reissue corresponds to the second disc in the 2002 set, "In Tribute and Celebration." Schubert's Piano Trio in B flat major, which Stern performs brilliantly with cellist Leonard Rose and pianist Eugene Istomin, is the oldest recording here, but it is more enjoyable than it was on LP because the sound has been substantially improved through careful remastering.