Ihre Favourite Winterreise

Started by Rinaldo, February 02, 2021, 02:13:09 AM

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Mandryka


Friedhelm Döhl's Bruchstücke zur Winterreise.

Possibly of interest, I wonder what Silvestrov would have to say about this.
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Mandryka

#61



Certainly worth listening to this, more than once. Benjamin Appl is reserved, peaceful, thoughtful -- it's a lieder singer's performance rather than an opera singer or a narrator. He's got a honeyed voice.  Zero melodrama, minimum dynamic range. Really stimulating for me.

It may be the longest Winterreise on record -- I've not compared the timings with Jon Vickers/Peter Schaaf.  You have to be up for  himmlische Längen.
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Mandryka

#62


To some extent with Brendel and with Goerne you know what you're going to get: a well considered performance, respectful to Schubert's score and the established tradition of performing it. Goerne and Brendel are birds of a feather in that respect - they are both very "professional" in the qualitative sense of the term.

This is an apotheosis of that approach. Lyrical, dramatic, wide awake and expressive singing from Goerne, showing great sensitivity to the text. And tasteful, imaginative, self-effacing piano playing (just listen to Brendel in Die Krähe (15) and your jaw will drop.) The performance is extrovert - it's a bit like hearing one of those old fashioned voice-beautiful actors in Shakespeare - Olivier or Gielgud or someone like that. It by no means leaves the impression of a spontaneous personal outpouring. Every vowel, every phrase has been scrupulously mulled over, the music and the poetry have been studied, and it shows. In that respect, Goerne really is in the tradition of Fischer-Dieskau here.

It's a recording of a concert, and I think you have to give them time to settle down. By  Gefror'ne Tränen (3) they're found their groove and by Wasserflut (6) I'd say they're in full swing. By Frülingstraum (11) they are producing miracles and I'm sure that everyone in the audience was real happy to have made the effort to be there.
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Mandryka

#63


The young Ernst Haefliger, a radiant supple colourful tenor which blends very well with the sound of Jord Ewald Dähler's posed piano piano playing. Expressive and rapt, not melodramatic opera. Once they find their swing, say by Wasserflut (6), we are in miracle territory.

After listening to baritones, it's quite hard to adjust to a tenor again, worth the effort though.


Hard to find on Spotify - search for the pianist Dähler.
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Jo498

FWIW, it's the "old" Ernst Haefliger (1919-2007) who was in his 60s at the time of the recordings with Dähler! He probably recorded Winterreise already in the 1960s, but I have never heard it. However, there is a Müllerin with Erik Werba from around 1970 that is pretty good.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Florestan

Quote from: Mandryka on March 16, 2024, 02:02:41 AM

The young Ernst Haefliger, a radiant supple colourful tenor which blends very well with the sound of Jord Ewald Dähler's posed piano piano playing. Expressive and rapt, not melodramatic opera. Once they find their swing, say by Wasserflut (6), we are in miracle territory.

After listening to baritones, it's quite hard to adjust to a tenor again, worth the effort though.


Hard to find on Spotify - search for the pianist Dähler.

Haeffliger is one of my favorite Schubert singers. You should try his other recordings too, Daehler or Werba, it's desert island stuff, including DSM.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Mandryka

Quote from: Jo498 on March 16, 2024, 02:16:13 AMFWIW, it's the "old" Ernst Haefliger (1919-2007) who was in his 60s at the time of the recordings with Dähler! He probably recorded Winterreise already in the 1960s, but I have never heard it. However, there is a Müllerin with Erik Werba from around 1970 that is pretty good.

Gosh, he sounds so young! I can't see an earlier Winterreise from him on discogs.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Florestan

Quote from: Jo498 on March 16, 2024, 02:16:13 AMFWIW, it's the "old" Ernst Haefliger (1919-2007) who was in his 60s at the time of the recordings with Dähler! He probably recorded Winterreise already in the 1960s, but I have never heard it. However, there is a Müllerin with Erik Werba from around 1970 that is pretty good.

Haeffliger's voice was exceptionally versatile and I can very well understand taking him for a young fellow although he was actually much older. Truly something else, he.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Mandryka

Quote from: Florestan on March 16, 2024, 02:32:25 AMHaeffliger's voice was exceptionally versatile and I can very well understand taking him for a young fellow although he was actually much older. Truly something else, he.

I've gone down a rabbit hole with these big Schubert cycles -- a very enjoyable rabbit hole.
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Florestan

Quote from: Mandryka on March 16, 2024, 02:37:16 AMI've gone down a rabbit hole with these big Schubert cycles -- a very enjoyable rabbit hole.

Not a cycle, but this week I've been listening to the Hendricks/Lupu disc of Lieder and was spellbound. Exceptional Suleika I, Mignon, Ganymed and Gretchen an Spinnrade. The whole recording is a treasure trove. Unmissable.

EDIT: and a Die Forelle to die for.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Jo498

Yes, Haefliger kept his voice in extraordinary shape and doesn't sound much different at 60 than at 40. I thought I had Schwanengesang from the late recordings with Daehler as well but I have only Winterreise and the 4th (last?) Schubert disc they recorded with 23 mixed songs.

OT: Brahms called one of the Suleika songs (forgot which one) the most beautiful song of all.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Mandryka

There is an earlier Winterreise with Haeffliger after all, with Michio Kobayashi on DG, recorded in Japan in 1969. In the Complete Ernst Haeffliger Edition

https://winterreise.online/haefliger-kobayashi/
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Mandryka

#72



https://www.opusklassiek.nl/cd-recensies/cd-aw/schubert12.htm

The link will take you to a detailed negative review of Tom Krause's Winterreise with Gustav Djupsjöbacka, and is probably correct. However I find it atmospheric and interpretively committed, it brings a magic to the music, though it may not be well sung or even well recorded. 

Just a general point prompted by that review. The first song, Gute Nacht, is a real pons assinorum - it's extremely long and strophic, potentially a bit boring.  Ian Bostridge talks about this in his book.
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Jo498

#73
Gute Nacht is the only long strophic song in the cycle but it has the last stanza in the major. The others are shorter and/or have more contrasts within (e.g. Die Post, Frühlingstraum). (I think the best option is variation within a mostly strophic form like in "Der Lindenbaum".)
Müllerin has more simple strophic songs, I think, and begins with a fairly trite strophic one ("Das Wandern" became a folksy popular song in Germany, although with a slightly changed melodic line), although the only long one is the last one (Des Baches Wiegenlied) where it might fit better.

This requires some creativity of the singer and the accompanist to make little differences "speak". E.g in Gute Nacht the "disappointed hope" in the first 2 returns to minor after major (eg. verses 7+8  vs. 5+6) and of course the last stanza in major.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Mandryka

Quote from: Jo498 on March 16, 2024, 03:01:20 AMOT: Brahms called one of the Suleika songs (forgot which one) the most beautiful song of all.

The first, D720
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Mandryka



Hans Jörg Mammel and Arthur Schoonderwoerd.

This is magnificent IMO, really well considered and natural sounding, epic reading, not at all mannered or self conscious. Obviously a lot will depend on how you respond to Mammel's piercing voice - I like it. Top tier.
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Mandryka

#76


My jaw first dropped when I heard Francisco Araiza's Erstarrung, and then again in Der Lindenbaum -- listen! Just very lyrical, tasteful and dramatic. A wonderful voice on this DVD. The interpretation strikes me as like no other I've heard, particularly epic in scale, and particularly successful at unifying the two books. Top tier Winterreise, possibly topmost. After all this searching I've found the first dark horse hidden gem.





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Mandryka



Harry Geraerts is a light tenor. His style is declamatory. Some people would say he hardly sings at all, but I think they have a narrow conception of singing, There are lots of declamatory Winterreise recordings but this seems particularly extreme and IMO not uninteresting. Ludger Remy knows what to do with his 1827 Hoxa piano..


Maybe one weakness is that it's a bit uniform -- but he wouldn't be the first (Think Hotter!)
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