Schubert: Geheimnis, D491 (Mayrhofer)

“ Schwanengesang is really no such thing, and there is nothing to prevent a singer omitting the song or changing the order. Bostridge follows the publisher's order and does not flinch before 'Aufenthalt'; and if momentarily he goes under, perhaps it is part of the musical-verbal picture that he should. In any case, all of this is a diversion, almost a frivolity. At the heart of the matter are 'Der Doppelgänger', 'Die Stadt', 'Ihr Bild', 'Am Meer' and, from the Rellstab settings, 'In der Ferne'. Bostridge has, in the pallor of voice and expression, the haunting that pervades these songs. In the first mentioned (the last sung) he is one of the few who can create unease without anticipating the horror, still making those openmouthed vowels ('starret', 'Schmerzensgewalt', 'so manche Nacht') call out into the night like a wounded animal.
Such rare moments are the singer's own; elsewhere the performance is equally the pianist's.
Pappano plays with imagination as verbally attuned as Bostridge's. The rightness of touch is evident in the first additional song, 'Geheimnis', and in the last, the very simple and aptly chosen 'Abschied'. He is also graceful and interesting in the happier songs. There's one misgiving – Bostridge makes so much of the German words, rather as though anxious to communicate with the back rows of a concert-hall full of non-German speakers. Whatever the justification in situ, it nags a little on records.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“At the heart of the matter are "Der Doppelgänger", "Die Stadt", "Ihr Bild", "Am Meer" and, from the Rellstab settings, "In der Ferne". Bostridge has, in the pallor of voice and expression, the haunting that pervades these songs. In the first mentioned (the last sung) he is one of the few who can create unease without anticipating the horror.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2009

“[Bostridge's] somewhat detached, hard vocal quality suits the introspective longing of many of these settings.” The Times, 21st February 2009 ***

“Goerne… and Schneider offer grave and solemn performances of Goethe's Mignon and Harper songs, before ending on a higher note, celebrating the eternal joy of love in 'Willkommen and Abschied'.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2009 ****

“Battered by Bryn Terfel dramatics, the ears cried out for a pure dose of lieder from a master of the craft. Matthias Goerne… seems to own a different shade of baritonal colour for every syllable Schubert wrote. The voice is sweet and serene, even at fff, and the shifts that Goerne applies to the changing of seasons and the fickleness of love are done with enviable delicacy. More reticent than Fischer-Dieskau or Thomas Quasthoff to bend a line for expressive emphasis, when Goerne takes a liberty the effect is breath stopping… T his is not an album to gorge at one go. Take it two songs a night before bedtime, and it might see you through to the end of recession.” Norman Lebrecht, Evening Standard CD of the Week

“Goerne used to record for Decca, but it apparently had no interest in his 12-volume Schubert compendium, so the less ruthlessly commercial Harmonia Mundi comes to the rescue, for which the France-based company deserves the highest praise. From a vocal point of view, few male singers, even Fischer-Dieskau, command such a rich palette of colours as Goerne does here…he goes where Dieskau never ventured: he includes two of Mignon's songs, Heiss' mich nicht reden and Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt, as well as the Harper trilogy… In the middle Harper song, Mayrhofer's Nachtstück and Nähe des Geliebten (Nearness of the Beloved), Goerne approaches the sublime and captures perfectly the wry wit of Goethe's sly dig at water-nymphery, Der Fischer, in which the surprise encounter of an angler with a "moist woman" is wryly underlined by Schubert. Luxury support from Deutsch and Schneider sets the seal on an outstanding issue.” Sunday Times Classical CD of the Week

“This promises to be a landmark series, up there with Hans Hotter and Fischer-Dieskau.” The Observer

“Here elegy, fatalism and death-longing predominate and in such repertoire Goerne's mellow, darkly rounded timbre, expressive diction and care – rare in Lieder singers today – for a true, 'bound' line are well nigh ideal. Even at the most anguished fortissimo, his tone never grows harsh or hectoring. Perfectionism like Goerne's has inevitably provoked charges of over-calculation.
Some might protest at the ultra-slow tempo for Du bist die Ruh. Yet Goerne's beauty of tone and phrasing (founded on seemingly superhuman reserves of breath), and a rapt intensity that rises to spiritual radiance in the final verse are mesmerising. At a more conventional tempo, he sings An die Musik as a simple, sincere confession of faith, with affectionate touches of rubato (and how eloquently Helmut Deutsch's left hand duets with the voice). Elsewhere Goerne's unsentimental tenderness can illuminate little-known songs that seem ordinary on the printed page – Abschied von der Harfe, say, or the quasi-operatic lament Der Sänger amFelsen. He even appropriates, successfully, two of Mignon's songs, giving one of the most desolate and – in the central section – disturbed performances of Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt you will hear.
True to form, Goerne makes an uncommonly melancholy serenader in An die Laute and DesMädchens Liebeslauschen, which never smiles. Yet he can lighten up, as in the story-telling of DerFischer and Wie Ulfru fischt. Like Deutsch on the first disc, Eric Schneider fully matches Goerne in acumen and command of colour, not least in a performance of Nachtstück of mingled grandeur, mystery and compassionate gentleness.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Goerne's virtuoso vocal sculpting draws you into the inner landscape of each song, his warm, expressive baritone shaping detail often understated by lesser artists. This promises to be a landmark series, up there with Hans Hotter and Fischer-Dieskau.” The Guardian, 12th October 2008

'Piano-playing, notes and recording all enhance the virtues of this rewarding disc, which will surely be a thing of joy for many years to come' (Gramophone)

“This is one of the most taxing Schubert programmes ever assembled, and Trost is sensational throughout, conjuring up a unique emotionial or narrative world for each song by means of vocal or verbal dexterity.” Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 12th September 2008 *****