Bass-baritone Florian Boesch, top-class Lied-singer, blooms in a Schubert programme (finest orchestrations by Brahms and Webern) with the renowned Concentus Musicus, the Viennese orchestra now led by the talented Stefan Gottfried. Next to these sublimated pieces, the Concentus performs a finished version of the mysterious ‘Unfinished’ Symphony. A Scherzo by Schubert himself was completed by a composer (Nicola Samale) and a musicologist (Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs) so that the result is faithful to the musician special expression. And Rosamunde’s Overture concludes this re-enactment: a moving experience and a touching journey through time!
Two masterful Schubert interpreters, tenor Mark Padmore & pianist Mitsuko Uchida record Schubert’s Schwanengesang and Beethoven’s An Die Ferne Geliebte for the first time. On a new Decca Classics album, Uchida and Padmore appear on record for the first time in this live recording from London’s Wigmore Hall. They perform Schubert’s Schwanengesang (his “Swansong”, first published weeks after the composer’s premature death in 1828) and Beethoven’s only major song cycle An die ferne Geliebte. With a lifetime of experience with this music, Uchida and Padmore are the perfect duo to interpret this magnificent repertoire.
Terfel's gift is a generous, individual voice, a natural feeling for German and an inborn abil- ity to go to the heart of what he attempts. His singing here is grand in scale – listen to any of the dramatic songs and the point is made – but like Hotter, whom he so often resembles, he's able to reduce his large voice to the needs of a sustained, quiet line, as in Meerestille. When the two come together as in Der Wanderer, the effect can be truly electrifying, even more so, perhaps, in Erlkönig where the four participants are superbly contrasted. Yet this is a voice that can also smile, as in An die Laute and 'Die Taubenpost' or express wonder, as in Ganymed, a most exhilarating interpretation, or again explode in sheer anger as in the very first song, the strenuous Gruppe aus dem Tartarus.
Schubert’s enigmatic final collection of songs, Schwanengesang, is the subject of baritone Andrè Schuen and his longstanding accompanist Daniel Heide’s second release for DG. Baritone Andrè Schuen calls Schwanengesang “my greatest love among the Schubert lieder. Especially the Heine settings; they move me the most!” His admiration for the cycle dates back to a time before he had even become a professional singer: “It’s one of the first lied compositions I got to know. I remember a recording with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau that I played over and over again.”
This isn't the first disc to couple a transcription of Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata for cello with transcriptions of Schubert's lieder for cello – Mischa Maisky released a disc with a strikingly similar program a decade ago. But that's alright: it's still a great idea and while Maisky's disc was superb, so is this one by cellist Anne Gastinel. Maisky's technique may be more polished in Schubert's achingly beautiful Arpeggione Sonata, but Gastinel's technique is almost as strong and possibly more incisive. Maisky's tone may be warmer in Schubert's supremely lyrical lieder, but Gastinel's tone is nearly as warm and perhaps deeper.
The concept of “Der Wanderer” (the wanderer) had a lifelong fascination for Franz Schubert. The idea of an eternal journey towards happiness or a better life, albeit unattainable, was close to his romantic heart. The same may be said of Franz Liszt, who, mutatis mutandis, shared Schubert’s wanderings and quest for an ideal. No wonder that Liszt was one of the first to recognize Schubert’s genius, playing his works in his concerts and transcribing songs for piano solo.
After winning the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015 and releasing lauded albums of works by Debussy and Mozart, the "unequivocally brilliant" (The Telegraph) pianist SeongJin Cho now explores Schubert, Liszt, and Berg. The new album features Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy and Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor.