Schubert: Ständchen 'Horch! Horch! die Lerch!', D889 (Hark, Hark, the Lark!)

“his velvet baritone and faultless breath control [are perfectly suited] to the evocation of enveloping physical and existential darkness, and the light of the moon...Goerne compellingly exploits his bass register for the gravedigger's desperation and fear in Totengräbers Heimweh, and vividly characterises the dichotomy between pastoral and military life in Der Schäfer und der Reiter.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2011 ****

“From the first bars of Nacht und Träume it is clear that we are in the presence of two artists in deep sympathy both with the music and with each other...This is a lovely recital, Goerne's intelligence, grace and lack of ostentation giving each song its due, with admirable support from Schmalcz.” International Record Review, January 2011

“This is a selection of Schubert’s lieder, sung by Matthias Goerne with exquisite artistry.” The Telegraph, 18th February 2011 ****

“Barbara Bonney’s Schubert recital is clear-eyed, simple and eloquent” BBC Music Magazine

“Arleen Auger brings her special quality of chaste intimacy to gentle, small-scale performances of 23 of Schubert's most popular songs” BBC Music Magazine, October 2010 ***

“An attractive compilation from EMI's 2001-02 series of Schubert Lieder and piano music. Here, it's predominantly Lieder, with just three piano fragments; but with both artists at their relaxed and creatively focused best.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2008 ****

“...from Bostridge you have intelligent word painting, effortless sense of line, langorous phrasing, and a vocal quality that is as sonorous in the upper register as it is mellow in the lower. Andsnes more than accompanies, he pushes the beauty and depth of the piano writing to the fore, whilst never unbecomingly stealing the show.” Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 11th July 2008

“Ian Bostridge is one of the most effective Schubert voices in Europe today” The Times

'A wondrous addition to this unique venture, it is hard to know where to begin in its praise' (Gramophone)

“It's hard to know where to begin in praise of this disc. It has several centres of excellence, the first being Schäfer's beseeching, urgent account of the Mignon settings from Goethe's WilhelmMeister that make plain her pre-eminence today among sopranos in Lieder. Next comes Ainsley's winningly fresh account of An Silvia. You may be surprised at how wholly new-minted Ainsley's ardent tones and Johnson's elating piano manage to make of such a hackneyed song. Schäfer and Johnson do the same service for Horch,horch! die Lerch'. Then comes the extraordinary discovery of this volume. As a rule, Johnson has excluded unaccompanied vocal pieces from his project; happily, he has made an exception in the case of the astonishingly original Seidl setting Grab und Mond, which touches on eternal matters, or rather the permanence of death, a message starkly expressed in typically daring harmony. The London Schubert Chorale gives it a spellbinding interpretation and also contributes positively to a performance of another Seidl setting, the better-known Nachthelle, where the high-lying tenor lead provides no problems for Ainsley. There have to be reservations over the work of Richard Jackson; his tone is inadequate to the demands of Der Einsame, the unjustly neglected Totengräberweise and Der Wanderer anden Mond, which call for a richer sound-palette.
Throughout, Johnson's playing is a source of pleasure and enlightenment. The recording is well-nigh faultless.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Rich and quite strange, to paraphrase Shakespeare is the only possible summation of this dazzling, bewildering collection of songs written for and inspired by Shakespeare. Spence is game for anything...Initially, [he] presents himself as a well-groomed, somewhat unoriginal singer...Soon, though, one realises he is indeed original, suggesting that an undercurrent in his disc is a catalogue of singing styles.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2013

“not only an opportunity to sample the breadth and variety of Shakespeare settings through the centuries...but also the interpretative range of both artists. It's also a lot of fun...[the Schubert are] particularly well suited to Spence's flexible, fulsome and multi-hued tenor.” International Record Review, May 2013

“Spence’s voice is naturally thrilling, radiant and luminescent in just about every second of this programme, crossing stylistic boundaries with the silvery ease of a born entertainer. If anything, the recording production level is a little in-your-face at times, but there’s no getting away from the charismatic listenability of this ultra-svelte performing duo.” The Scotsman, 11th February 2013 *****