Back in the 1950s when
I was a teenager, I assiduously copied out and learned the texts of
the twenty-four songs that comprise Schubert's Die Winterreise;
all of which stood me in good stead for the rest of my life, since I
can now sit back and listen to the songs without having recourse to
the texts or translations.
It is difficult to
imagine what Schubert's small audience back in 1828 would have made
of this cycle of songs, where pessimism rules, and where the
harmonies of the songs often modulate every few bars (the modulations
of Die Krähe always fascinated me). I knew this greatest of
all song cycles from my early LPs of Hans Hotter (three LP sides,
with the fourth side blank). I then, inevitably, went on to Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau; since then, there have been many candidates for
favourite version, the latest being Jonas Kaufman (tenor).
This evening it was back to Christian Gerhaher (baritone) with
Gerold Huber at the piano, recorded back in 2001. The pianist is
excellent. Gerhaher sings with welcome emotion and really enters into
the spirit of this evergreen work; Winterreise is an emotional
work — with often quite violent emotions. Thanks to my teenage hard
work, I can sit back and enjoy the songs and the words, greatly
helped by Gerhaher's clear diction and enunciation. Gerhaher, Goerne,
or Kaufman (I never took to Fischer-Dieskau)? Spoilt for choice, but I greatly enjoyed Gerhaher this
evening and was completely gripped for 78 minutes.
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