Schwanengesang

"Julian Prégardien follows very much in his father's footsteps. He is careful over nuances, and he radiates warmth. His singing is also natural, without exaggerated histrionics. His tone is youthful and light, but he can also generate deep intensity ... It may be unfair to single out certain songs as extra good, but for those who like to sample before listening through the whole cycle, the heartrending In der Ferne (tr. 2), where he adopts a plaintive tone in the last stanza, is a good place to start, and Aufenthalt (tr. 7) is also a high spot. Don't miss, by the way, Martin Helmchen's sensitive playing in Mendelssohn's beautiful Lied ohne Worte ... The coupling of Schubert's D 956 and D 957 is certainly fitting, and anyone who wants these two works together can safely invest in this twofer".

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"Editor's choice - November 2022: The second of two superb interpretations of Schwanengesang to come my way in as many months, this could scarcely be more different from Ian Bostridge's aching, careworn account of the work with the late Lars Vogt, but I can see myself returning to it just as often: firm and even throughout the range, Schuen's virile, oaky baritone is a pleasure in itself, and his broader-brush approach to the text is no less vivid than Bostridge's more pointillistic interpretation".

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"Solisten er tenoren Ian Bostridge, som jeg vil være forsigtig med at udtale mig kontant om. Han har en speciel stemme, lidt tynd og endda lidt spids i klangen, men han styrer den formidabelt. Med andre ord er det forståeligt, at nogle ikke bryder sig om hans tenor, men det er endnu mere forståeligt, at andre begejstres over hans forfinede sangkunst ... Antonio Pappano er ikke blot operachef og en strålende dirigent, men også en følsom klaverakkompagnatør".

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"Schwanengesang ... synges på en ny cd med gribende indlevelse af den engelske tenor Ian Bostridge ... Bostridge foredrager med en ren, nærmest ukropslig stemme - den rene følelse er i centrum her, ikke drift og begær. Han synger krystalklart legato og med en særdeles tydelig tekstudtale ... og hans stemme er i det hele taget egal og luksuriøs, fuld af både kraft og ømhed, og han formår at farve teksternes dramaer, så deres følelsesmæssige alsidighed bliver tydelig".

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"While the concept is not quite convincing, the performances certainly are ... Julian Prégardien, his tone lighter and brighter than that of his father Christoph, is a sentient, involving interpreter who always compels you to listen. His diction, like his father's, is invariably clear and expressive".

"Christopher Maltman has a very beautiful light baritone voice and sings Schubert with undemonstrative perceptiveness and much musical intelligence ... This is a fine recording of Schwanengesang, the accompaniment occasionally somewhat intensive but Maltman's singing hard to fault".

"With this disc, Christopher Maltman and Graham Johnson complete their trio of Schubert song-cycles from the Wigmore Hall ... Maltman brings a light touch to Liebesbotschaft, beautifully complemented by the filigree of Johnson's accompaniment ... The second encore, Der Winterabend, culminates in Johnson's right hand doubling and counterpointing the vocal line - magical".

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "The close creative partnership between Mark Padmore and Paul Lewis is immediately heard in the opening ... Padmore's silvery, keen-edged tenor, grace of phrase and sensitivity to mood and verbal nuance are ideal here; and how affectionately Lewis's left hand sings in gentle colloquy with the voice ... This is certainly a Schwanengesang in the Schreier-Schiff class".

"Werner Güra is a very fine Schubert singer of a particular kind: his performance of these songs are fresh, natural, unforced and intimate ... Christoph Berner, is a little heavy-handed and too free with the loud pedal in a few of these songs ... This is an engaging disc, with a useful booklet note".

"These late songs ... are arguably a better fit for his once-handsome baritone as it now is ... But the desicated sound of Skovhus's baritone constantly gets in the way of enjoyment - he can occasionally put some flesh on the bones in the middle of the register, but it peters out at the bottom of the range and thins at the top ... Vladar's playing is perfectly decent - and one would not expect nothing less - but lacks immediacy in a recorded balance that tries to offer his colleagues a helping hand. Another disappointment, I'm afraid".

"One enjoys Schuen's fresh, beautifully contoured baritone, deployed with breath control that allows him to sail into long vocal lines with an illuminating sense of long-term musical direction, plus telling articulation of text ... These are young interpretations, not replacing the great Schubert barytones (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau or Matthias Goerne) but definitely warranting a place alongside them".

"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"".

"I take nothing away from Bostridge's acute intelligence, his vitality and commitment, his complete grasp of the song's poetic import, or the sheer thoroughness of his exuberation. Still, for the life of me, I find myself unable to enjoy the singing".

"Burdened inwardness has long been Matthias Goerne's hallmark. Here, even more ... he seems to view even the tremulously hopeful songs of Schwanengesang through a gauze of nostalgia and regret ... The distinctive mellow roundness of Goerne's timbre, at once deep and soft-grained, and his care for a true, 'bound' legato are pleasures in themselves".

"Like his mentor Fischer-Dieskau, Goerne brings a variety of "faces" to his interpretations of these great songs ... If his timbre is never quite as distinctive as his late teacher's, and his diction less fanatically incisive ... his interpretations sound less mannered and more "modern" than those of his celebrated predecessor. I can't, however, write that I inevitably prefer them".

"A very fine singer on fine form, then, an honest, beautiful crafted interpretation, and a Schwanengesang that's well worth seeking out, especially for those seeking an alternative to Florian Boesch's rather more interventionist recent account".