Repertoire: The BEST and Not As Best Schubert Winterreise 

Thank you for posting another repertoire review. I appreciate how much more difficult and time consuming they are to create compared to your shorter videos, which I also look forward to. These retrospectives helped me return to collecting music. They also introduced me to compositions and genres I previously ignored. I re-listen to repertoire reviews multiple times. Thanks again for the education.

I heard Ian Bostridge sing it in San Francisco at the Herbst around 20 years ago. (I don't recall the pianist). He had a very bad cold, yet he carried on! He sounded just fine. He had to turn his back to the audience between numbers to blow his nose into a big white handkerchief. I felt so bad for him, but he was a champ. Thanks for the great review. Can't wait to hear more Roman Terkel.

As to this cycle I’ve never heard a better one than the Pregardien’s one. He has that kind of timbre which can pass from the sheer brilliance to the deepest sadness which are a the main feature of this work

Phew, 20 different versions of Weltschmerz! Beautifully done, Dave, thank you so much. Wesley

The first Goerne is out of print but easily found used. It is volume 30 (not split up) of the Hyperion Schubert Edition, and my pick for best ever recording.

I think it speaks volumes about the greatness of the work that a Quebec punk singer did his own translation (in French) and arrangement of the whole cycle since he was so impressed with the original. And he does have lots of character despite his late-dylanish voice. His deep respect for the work is really coming through. It’s called Le voyage d’hiver (of course) by Keith Kouna and it’s on streaming services.

I am a deep admirer of Winterreise ... this song cycle has helped me understand tragedies in my life in terms of what human nature tends to do in case of the trauma of deep dreams denied ... but as an admirer of the bass voice, I tend to listen to this opposite of what Schubert intended ... so of these choices, bass-baritone Hans Hotter is my favorite ... his "Der Lindenbaum" is, even in memory, almost enough to bring me to tears. My two favorite recordings are of bass ... Martti Talvela's well-known recording and Kurt Moll's vastly underrated recording ... Talvela is both sympathetic and sepulchral with his huge, cavernous voice never far from weeping ... one can hear the character's personality coming apart, and the hollowness of his loneliness ... in "Rast," a place of safety becomes an echo chamber like a tomb ... for if a man comes to the point in which he is happier in storm, in chaos, he is gone from life. It is just a matter of time ... and by the time one gets down to "Der Wegweiser," when the character realizes that he needs rest and safety but will forever be seeking it but not finding it, the character discovers what "Rast" has already given us the means to know. Talvela's version proceeds from the tomb, in advance! But Kurt Moll ... my favorite, though vastly underrated for a good reason. He acknowledges something many other interpreters overlook: the likelihood of a man's FURY at being rejected, and the problem that woman and her family have inadvertently made for themselves in letting that man stay just one more night while they go on to sleep, defenseless. One hears a very intelligent man, calm enough to preserve to himself all possible courses of action until that night comes ... reciting every person who has outraged him right up to God Himself, Who since He is love but love has become inconstant, has made room for a man to break the rules as well, and that man is choosing to break them even by uttering what is a blasphemy. So when one realizes the character is actually looking down at his beloved, asleep .... bonus points for Moll being as tall, deep, and broad as his voice suggests, there looking down on a defenseless woman in "Gute Nacht," and, deciding right there for all of Winterreise: does he actually love her, or not, and given the answer to that, WHO SHALL DIE? Moll's Winterreise is about choices, first of the character, but also those of the woman and her family. Did everyone make the right decision? Should the woman and her family have chosen a different man, and was the choice just about the money? The answers are there in Winterreise ... one will not make a POPULAR interpretation, digging them out ... but that is why Moll is my favorite ... he tells the truth.

Thanks for this post - I just miss the Fassbaender - Reimann version - one of the best male or female, a very intense and tragic version.

Dave thank you so much for this. I was blown away by the sample you played at the end.

Thanks for this dear Dave.

Wow! Thank you for taking the time for this one. I know the repertoire talks require a lot from you, but they're always worth it. My favorite female vocalist in these (and other Schubert) is Brigitte Fassbaender. Gorgeous, unique voice, & spot-on vocal acting that never turns to Schwarzkopf mannerisms.

Congratulations. That's a thing. I tried something similar only with two songs of the Dichterliebe and the sheer number of recordings is overwelming. And so many are very good !! Someday you might have a chat about joy and pain of comparative listening or ?. I just discovered a concert video of Julian Pregardien (He did a wonderful cd with Zenders's version of the Winterreise). Great stuff. So you find always some new recordings. Sometimes you are atracted by the voice, sometimes it is more the interpretation. A great singer is also Florian Boesch. In my youth I was a total obsessed by Fischer-Diskau but I recognize , that I prefer mor younger singers. Thank you very much, Dave, especially that you didn't lost your humour listening to this musical depression overdose. :)

You remembered right about Prégardien and Staier: they did record it together, but on Teldec (a fine version, if not my favourite). Don’t watch the Bostridge dvd. You'll laugh, which you shouldn't with this work. Bostridge and Drake without props are very good though. I saw and heard them do it in concert and it was electrifying. As you said Bostridge is really into this work and it shows: he lives the music. My favourite one on record is Goerne with Eschenbach (Harmonia Mundi, haven't heard the Hyperion one).

Thank you for this wonderful review. My favourite version is Gérard Souzay and Dalton Baldwin. Souzay's "Leiermann" is truly devastating. And what a beautiful, velvety voice!

When I first listened to the Schreier/Schiff 3CD-set some 16 years ago, I thought he just had an unattractive voice. But soon after came one morning when I ended up missing the right time to leave my house, because I just couldn't stop until the CD in question got to the end. That moment I realized Schreier had just become my reference lied singer, which he remains to this day. His sober but believable expressiveness, his extreme elegance without mannerisms, his crystalline declamation, and Schiff's balanced and lively input, are really such a marvelous thing. That's my "why lieder" set and I'm glad you admire it as much.

Thanks for playing Trekel. Beautiful voice!

Thank you so much for this Dave; it’s a splendid overview. I have to admit that I feared for your sanity when you said you were taking it on and I’d be interested to know what you listened to to depressurise. Although I’m a self-confessed Winterreise obsessive, I got some new threads to follow out of this - and also from the comments below the line. I think you’ve done a great job in your appraisal of each version in addressing the key conundrums of Winterreise - that it’s operatic without being opera; that the performers have to strike a balance between respecting the text yet being neither overly reverential or tipping over into the realm of psychodrama; and that the piano accompaniment while crucial should not be in any way intrusive. I’m not entirely surprised at your choice of Schreier/Schiff as top of the tenor versions. However, I admit I was surprised by how well-disposed you are to the first Padmore recording. I agree entirely with you on that but it didn’t get a uniformly good reception (a bit too ‘British’ seemed to be the main objection) on its release and I think that may have influenced the disastrous decision to have another go. Once again, heartfelt thanks!

Thanks a lot, Dave, for that very comprehensive survey. I had the good fortune of attending Winterreise concerts in the 60s with two of those singers. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Gerald Moore at the Royal Festival Hall was my most moving concert EVER! A bit later at la Salle Gaveau there was Hermann Prey. As you say, his was beautiful singing but less involving than DF-D and there was a mishap when the accompanist (forgotten identity) turned over two pages and missed a song. Prey insisted on backtracking and, for me, that quite broke the spell. My 1960 LPs with DF-D/Moore have been played so often by an early heavy cartridge that some of the inner grooves are a bit distorted. He was in much less good voice in his late recording with Brendel but in lovely youthful voice in the 50s with Moore albeit a tad less involving. Hotter/Moore is wonderful.

Thank you for this comprehensive overview! In addition, I can recommend these two renditions; both tenor versions: First, Peter Anders (DG, 1945, with Raucheisen at the piano). This is a sensitive 'old school' operatic performance, recorded during the last months of the second world war, which imbues the music with a forlorn and absurd atmosphere. Second, Werner Güra (Harmonia Mundi, 2010, with Christoph Berner at the pianoforte). Güra is a lyrical high tenor, a real word-painter (which isn't surprising, given the fact that he is also active as an oratorio singer, often singing for Herreweghe and Jacobs), and judging from the descriptions of Schubert's own performances at the 'Schubertiaden', Güra might very well approach closest to what Schubert himself had in mind when writing Winterreise. Also, the fortepiano matches Güra's performance very well, and has a pleasant sound.

Correct! Diskau did it with Brendel and I think with Richter too (at least he did some lieder) - and I think Richter's wife said she also thought Moore was a better accompanist than her husband 😂

My favorite version is Martti Talvela's. The dark and deep bass tone is perfect for this piece. His occasional slightly shaky intonation actually adds to be emotional depth. I wonder if that's by design. The emotional weightiness of Das Wirtshaus is unusual and it makes the next piece, Mut!, to be an unconvincing self-encouragement, like a tragic new year's resolution. It's a real tragedy that he died relatively Young and recorded so few lieders. I could only find a couple more. Yes it's indeed true that it's hard to find a bad performance. Perhaps that's why Hans Zender was compelled to make a version that's easy to hate.

A great review of Winterreise offerings, Dave, and there is nothing I disagreed with. This is a work that I truly love and I think no other lied composer has come close to matching. What wonders might Schubert have given us if he had lived longer? There must be hundreds of versions of Winterreise available on disc. Performances in this genre and particularly Winterreise are a very personal thing, I believe, and my own preference is for a simpler style - less operatic, less coloured, less seeking to impress - one that allows the music and words to speak. I look for a singer with a beautiful voice and who can control their voice near perfectly across the full range of expression required in this intimate piece. The voice is so exposed in Winterreise that anything off will be noticed, and I have to like the timbre of the particular voice too. But this is all just my choice and the way I respond to the music. FWIW, I like Fischer-Dieskau as a singer, but not generally his lieder - I don’t understand why he is shouting, and that style of performance seems very dated now, to me. I had not heard the Trekel recording before and I did enjoy his Der Leiermann that you played. Among those I own I have most enjoyed the Christophe Prégardien / Gees, the Bostridge / Adès, and the new Schuen / Heide recording that you reviewed separately and also enjoyed for its beauty. I recently added the Jan Kobow / Christoph Hammer recording, which is perhaps another young singer who overplays his hand at times, but it did show me the benefits a native German speaker brings to the naturalness of the performance, and this interested me.

For me beauty of voice plays a big part, so I keep coming back to the first Prey, the first Goerne, the first Pregardien, the Mattei . Also listening a lot to the new recording from the elegant French tenor Cyrille Dubois-the heady vibrant sound and his remarkable way with the text.

I've been waiting for this one! I'll give Trekel a listen. My favorite so far has been Quasthoff, what's your opinion on him?

I love Winterreise and have quite a few recordings. Despite the fact I'm not in general a fan of Fischer-Dieskau, my favorite recording is his second for EMI, again with Gerald Moore, from 1962 (not the earlier 1955 one that was part of the "Great Recordings of the Century" series). I'm Swiss, so High German is our first foreign language starting in Elementary School, and Winterreise, same as Dichterliebe, isn't merely about singing, or I should say, the beauty of singing, but a story well told, and this recording gives me the chills, and I guess that's the point.

My personal hidden pleasure is Jon Vickers' recording for Warner. His voice is another acquired taste, at least for this repertory, but I think he is womderful, with a hush tone completely apropriate for the work, combined with the operatic force in the most powerful moments. For me, his Leierman is poignant as no other.

I love the D-F-D version with Barenboim--because of Barenboim. I'm probably not that great at judging singing, but I sure know great piano playing when I hear it.

I had the great good fortune to hear Schreier in recital soon after the Winterreise disc with Schiff was released. It was a little bit disappointing when I saw that there was no Schubert on the program. But the Dichterliebe and An die ferne Geliebte were marvelous. What a fabulous musical memory!

Schreier/Schiff has been my favorite for all three since I bought it in the early '90s. Another one I love is sung by Natasa Mirkovic, accompanied by Matthias Loibner on hurdy-gurdy.

Thank you Dave, great video! I have to confess that I‘m not too fond of Trekel‘s voice and interpretation. My version I go to more often than others is Fischer-Diskau with Jörg Demus: His voice is in great shape - and in this middle version he is not as affected as earlier and later, he observes the nuances but is also singing the melodic lines. For me it‘s one of his best records. - Greetings from Berlin, Harry

Thank you for this wonderful review several were unknown to me I love the Prey and Pears Moore once said Britten was a better accompanist than him! The last one was beautiful with amazing piano tone superb love it !😢

For me it will always be Benjamin Luxon and David Willison. Luxon's singing is always so characterful and dramatic. Olaf Bär/Geoffrey Parsons is also excellent, as well as Pears/Britten.

1. Ian Bostridge is the "new Pears," not a good thing considered his whiny vocal quality. 2. Fischer-Dieskau also recorded this with Perahia, Brendel, Pollini (in addition to his multiple versions with non-"name" pianists --none of these when he was in good voice. 3. Kurt Moll's recording is remarkable for the quality of his voice and intelligent interpretation. I wouldn't have expected a basso to be right for this music, but he surprised me.

Wonderful overview, thank you! Trekel sounds like the same type of voice as Andreas Schmidt: Very harmonious. To me, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau conveys the dispair even more in the version with G. Moore. His interpretations of the songs are always really intelligent (and he did have a marvellous voice and diction). The good thing about your great overview, Dave, is that I will now have to hear a lot of new (and old) versions of this masterpeice! I love Lehmann in Wagner (great as Sieglinde), so now I look forward to hearing her Winterreise!

I've been trying to study and sing some of the Winterreise songs myself. Some of them are tricky for sure, one being Rückblick, and some of the really require a lot at both upper and lower registers of the vice, examples being Irrlicht and Gefrorne Tränen. I very much like Peter Schreier's interpretation, and 2 of his recordings are on youtube. He did something I have been told not to do, to use a word in the poetry that Schubert changed for the song. In Irrlicht, Müller has the phrase 'unsere Freuden, unsere Wehen' which Schreier sings, but in Schubert's score, instead of 'Wehen', he has 'Leiden'. I won't blame PS.

I have the Bar/Parsons EMI set recorded in the 1980s, picked up from a bookstore discount CD bin in 2008 for peanuts. When you're out in the boonies, you pick up whatever you find available. I am not in a position to listen to a dozen versions of a work before making an informed purchase selection. If fact I am the only one I know in my age range (60s) who is likely to have any recording of this. This is partly a consequence of the people in my social circles. Cheers.

Lotte Lehmann was a truly great lieder singer. She had a such grasp of music, drama and poetry , but stressed that it was possible to over emphasize the words. Perhaps that should have served as an example to some of the generation that followed. She knew how to keep the natural flow of the songs. Steber was another singer who spent her summers studying with Lehmann. I am fond of Peter Mattei and Hermann Prey in this work. Pears is remarkable. A mention for Ernst Haefliger with Jorg Eward Dahler which was the first recording of the cycle I ever heard. He was a wonderful tenor for this repertoire and it stands well alongside his recording of Schwanengesang which I particularly like.

Danke!

Pears and Britten has always been my favourite recording. It's a shame Wunderlich never recorded Wintereisse considering his excellent Die schöne Müllerin (at least I've never seen it if it does exists). I think Trekel has made a further recording, more urgent than the one you presented, which I thought, to be honest, was a bit laboured-beautiful voice though.

Dave, in addition to the Winterrreise recordings he made with accompanists like Gerald Moore and Jorg Demus, he made three recordings with "superstar' pianists - Daniel Barenboim, Alfred Brendel and Murray Perahia. His rendition with Barenboim was adequate, but by the time he made those recordings with Brendel and Perahia, his voice had deteriorated badly. Enough said.

I think Gerard Souzay may have done Wintereisse in mono, but I haven't heard it. Have you? Any thoughts?

Olaf Bär and Geoffrey Parsons on EMI! Bär is a baritone but has an easily-produced, light voice and an easy top so sounds tenor-ish, and Parsons was one of the great Lieder accompanists. They make a great team and catch the mood of both the lighter songs and the darker ones perfectly.

Of the 8 (!) studio recordings Fischer-Dieskau made, the general consensus seems to be that the best one is the recording he made with Jorg Demus in 1965. Also, it's been said that Hermann Prey would have had a greater career if Fischer-Dieskau had done something else with his life.

an oddity -- I have a single disk of Pregardien doing "Winterreise" with Andreas Staier playing a fortepiano on Teldec recorded in 1997. Is this the same recording in the box with mistaken attribution of Gees or a second recording of the piece? (which might explain your fortepiano confusion) -- not familiar with Challenge Classics appropriating Teldec's defunct catalog.

I have the the Fischer-Dieskau recording and I have to say when I listen to it I think of what a great accompanist Gerald Moore was a why on earth did I buy it when I don’t really like Fischer-Dieskau! I much prefer Prey and Ludwig.

I've watched the Bostridge/Drake Winterreise dramatization. It is very dark and moody and (if memory serves) has Bostridge roaming a labyrinth of dilapidated rooms. It has the look and feel of a ca. 1900 tuberculosis sanatorium. The whole thing reminded me heavily of Swiss director Adrian Marthaler's dramatizations of classical pieces (he did a Mahler 6th film, among countless other stuff, some interesting, some less so). This may sound cringeworthy, but it could really have been much worse. Many years ago I went to a live theatrical production of Winterreise that took place in an empty shopping mall in Vienna at night. That was really really bad. In a way where you felt the urge to laugh out loud at times, which is not an ideal reaction to Winterreise. (I am not a hater of modern productions by any means, or of dramatizations of non-theatrical works, in fact I enjoy a lot of German-style "regietheater" a great deal.) Compared to that thing, the Bostridge film version was positively enjoyable. Was it memorable? No. Did it do anything significant with or for the work? No. Did the people who made it embarrass themselves or their audience? No.

I think there are at least 10 different recordings by Fischer-Dieskau

I think "an acquired taste" is a very generous way to describe Peter Pears' voice! 🤥 I have the Fischer-Dieskau recording with Jorge Demus. I like the immediacy of FD's singing, but almost always opt for the Goerne/Johnson recording. In the early 70's Jorge Demus occasionally dropped in at San Francisco City College and gave a free noon-time recital, making extemporaneous remarks at the piano. A sweet and generous man. I thought for sure you'd give your opinion on Jonas Kaufmann's recording, which is relatively recent. (hint, hint)

I have heard so many different performances, both on record/disc/streaming & live, and the one which stands out to me is Patzak with Demus, recirded in 1964 I believe. Its not primarily a glorious vocal performance (Patzak didn't have the most mellifluous of voices, & certainly not by the 1960s) but the storytelling is incomparable.

I didn’t know you could do an interval halfway through- I have never experienced an interval when done LIVE, and I suspect that the purists would balk at the idea (so many purists around these days) but it makes sense to me -we all get tired, and that’s never a good prospect.

I'm absolutely fine with Trekel, he is really great. But for me as a huge Lieder person DFD and Moore are still the reference. Also worth mentioning for Winterreise fans: Andreas Schmidt and Olaf Bär. And for experts: Mitsuko Shirai (thrilling!) and the lesser knows swiss baritone Arthur Loosli (beyond beautiful). And finally the orchestration from Hans Zender is also worth listening. Best performance imho is with Pregardien.