Florian Boesch

“all the more powerful for being so admirably reined-in. Boesch's methodology has often been described as expressionist, though in this instance he's less overtly declamatory than you might expect...The hallucinatory quality of his interpretation is matched by a corresponding vividness in Martineau's playing...It makes for very difficult listening, but is unquestionably superb.” The Guardian, 10th November 2011 *****

“Perhaps the distinguishing feature of this version is the accompaniment of Malcolm Martineau, who contrives to bring some new insight to every single song, without ever sounding mannered...Florian Boesch, the possessor of a fine but not especially distinctive voice, takes his cue from him...and the collaboration is complete...The whole cycle moves into silence in a way that I have not heard before.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2012 *****

“Boesch's baritone, rich, most of the time quiet or very quiet, and always in tune, has, here and throughout this performance, a brooding thoughtfulness, as if he were discovering for himself and for the first time the depths of desolation....Boesch's and Martineau's is a coherent and agonising narrative, giving the listener the sense of a real, cold, protracted journey for heartbroken resolve to a desolate longing.” International Record Review, January 2012

“this new version by Florian Boesch and Malcolm Martineau is inspired and quite unforgettable. It has total spontaneity, a superbly balanced, totally natural recording, with the pianist making a perfect partnership with the singer...What is remarkable in a performance of this calibre is that the sadness which permeates all these songs....is always affecting.I cannot recommend this CD too highly.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2012

“and vivid account by the Austrian Florian Boesch. It is very much a joint achievement. Malcolm Martineau is an absolutely equal partner, a sorrowing, desolate, angry participant at every moment in the cycle...an exceptionally free, imaginative and dramatic interpretation.” Sunday Times, 19th February 2012

“an impressive traversal of Schubert’s winter journey. Florian Boesch’s singing is consistently involving and interesting and the support he receives from Malcolm Martineau is first class. Boesch enters fully into every song and it’s clear that he’s delving below the surface of the music. This is a fine addition to the discography of this engrossing song cycle.” MusicWeb International, June 2012

“Boesch is arguably [Loewe's] finest interpreter today, and this disc is mesmerising. An expressionistic vocal actor, Boesch has the ability to change the sound of his voice to fit the character he is portraying; when he gets to the big dialogues like Erlkönig, Edward or Herr Oluf, it's hard to believe that only one person is singing...A benchmark recording, and essential listening.” The Guardian, 12th May 2011 *****

“Loewe is at his best when the drama of a ballad unfolds through the characters' words, and his 'Erlkönig', though less terrifying than Schubert's, is more chilling: the child's death is a greater musical shock....Boesch sings these ballads with strong dramatic sympathy...Vignoles's accompaniment is always confident, very musical and perceptive.” International Record Review, May 2011

“Boesch's performance...demonstrates huge imaginative variety in characterisation (offering two different voices when necessary, or even three in Loewe's setting of Erlkonig), and moving convincingly to the lower register...Vignoles matches him in playing of perception in what is pretty well an ideal introduction to a fascinating figure.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2011 *****

“Loewe's writing is perhaps less sophisticated than Schubert's but, like him, he had a supremely appealing melodic gift...As for the singing, I cannot praise it too highly. Florian Boesch has a warmly attractive baritone voice and his diction is first class, as is his response to the word meanings. Roger Vignoles's accompaniments, too, give great pleasure in themselves, especially in the pictorial devices which Loewe so relishes.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2011

“The Austrian baritone opens with an exquisitely gauged Liederkreis, Op 24, full of subtle emotional twists and turns. The rest is a carefully varied selection of settings of words by Heine.” Sunday Times, 3rd May 2009 ****

“Having an accompanist as perceptive and exquisitely musical as Malcolm Martineau is a big asset, these are lieder performances of very high quality indeed.” The Guardian, 1st May 2009 ****

“There is much to enjoy in Boesch's dramatic, intensely "lived" performances, and in the imaginative playing of Malcolm Martineau (ultra-sensitive in Schumann's secretive piano postludes).” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2009

“Lang's music - jam-packed with collages, Mozartian parody, purposeful melodic invention and rude stylistic incongruities - always puts music first, and dramatic impetus takes care of itself. I love Bernhard Lang.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2009

“Orlando paladino is at the summit of Haydn's operatic art, and Harnoncourt's well-cast version is strongly recommended.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2009

“Nikolaus Harnoncourt boldly proclaims that Orlando Paladino 'is one of the best works in 18th-century music theatre'. Written to commemorate a visit by Russian royalty to Eszterháza that never materialised, Orlando Paladino was first performed in 1782, in celebration of Prince Nikolaus's name-day.
Sabine Gruber's conversational essay explains how Haydn's musical portraits show an astute affection for Ariosto's epic poem. Although Haydn's Orlando Paladino seems part-pantomime, part-fantasy, these characters are never conscious that they are not what they protest to be. Like Ariosto, Haydn lets the audience in on the joke but the characters remain blissfully oblivious to the hypocrisy or naivety of their richly ironic statements to themselves and each other.
Harnoncourt's exemplary team of singers deliver deadpan comedy. For instance, Werner Güra takes on an opera seria posture as the romantic 'hero' Medoro in 'Parto, Ma, oh Dio': the glorious musical language suggests he suffers from sincere passion, but his real motivation is cowardice. One imagines that Patricia Petibon's Angelica is merely emulating the heroic fidelity and courage of women like Mozart's Konstanze but during 'Non partir, mia bella face' one suspects that there is sincerity in her after all: Angelica is facing possible abandonment and her vulnerability shows through. Michael Schade's voice is smokier than it used to be but his powerful resonant high notes, expressive weight and authority suggest that Orlando is more victim than villain. Only the comic secondary roles sung by Markus Schäfer and Malin Hartelius get hammed up, but they each sing with élan.
There is a vivid sense of dramatic intensity in this live concert recording. It is historically absurd to employ a lute as part of the continuo team in a late-18th-century opera but Harnoncourt leads Concentus Musicus Wien through a fizzing theatrical performance. This is comfortably among the finest Haydn opera recordings, although the stingy omission of scene numbers and stage directions from the libretto is unhelpful.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Harnoncourt's exemplary team of singers deliver deadpan comedy. There is a vivid sense of dramatic intensity in this live concert recording. …Harnoncourt leads Concentus Musicus Wien through a fizzing theatrical performance. This is comfortably among the finest Haydn opera recordings...” Gramophone Magazine, October 2006

“The musical adventurer par excellence,… the scholarly conductor with temperament, the thinking musician who makes music with rough edges” Gramophone Magazine