Julian Prégardien, Kristian Bezuidenhout

Tenor Julian Prégardien certainly has plenty of competition with this recording of Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795. However, his entry into the field is distinctive in several ways and can stand with any of the other recent ones. Lieder buffs will remember that the singer's father, Christoph Prégardien, not only recorded this cycle but did so with a historically oriented pianist, Andreas Staier, at a time (1992) when historical performances of Schubert were not so common. Julian's second-generation recording certainly has a "family resemblance," but it is no knockoff, and it has several key attractions.

This first release in an exclusive recital collaboration with harmonia mundi presents Julian Prégardien’s reading of a cycle that explores quintessentially Schubertian themes: nature, love, solitude, death. Taking full advantage of the unique timbres of a Graf-style fortepiano, the young German tenor and Kristian Bezuidenhout create an expressive palette of exceptional variety, full of striking contrasts.