Track Listing

1. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Gute Nacht ("Fremd bin ich eingezogen")
2. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Die Wetterfahne ("Der Wind spielt mit der Wetterfane")
3. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Nicht zu langsam ("Gefror'ne Tropfen fallen")
4. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Erstarrung ("Ich such' im Schnee vergebens")
5. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Der Lindenbaum ("Am Brunnen vor dem Tore")
6. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Wasserflut ("Manche Thran' aus meinen Augen")
7. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Auf Dem Flusse ("Der du so lustig rauschtest")
8. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Ruckblick ("Es brennt mir unter beiden Sohlen")
9. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Irrlicht ("In die tiefsten Felsengrunde")
10. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Rast ("Mun merk' ich erst, wie mud' ich bin")
11. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Fruhlingstraum ("Ich traumte von bunten Blumen")
12. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book I, Einsamkeit ("Wie eine trube Wolke")
13. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Die Post ("Von der Strasse her ein Posthorn klingt")
14. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Der Greise Kopf ("Der Reif hat einen weissen Schein")
15. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Die Krahe ("Eine Drahe war mit mir")
16. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Letzte Hoffnung ("Hie und da ist an den Baumen")
17. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Im Dorfe ("Es bellen die Hunde, es rasseln die Ketten")
18. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Der Strumische Morgen ("Wie hat der Sturm zerrissen")
19. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Tauschung ("Ein Licht tanzt freundlich vor mir her")
20. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Der Wegweiser ("Was vermeid' ich denn die Wege")
21. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Das Wirtshaus ("Auf einen Totenacker")
22. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Mut ("Fliegt der Schnee mir in's Cesicht")
23. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Die Nebensonnen ("Drei Sonnen sah ich am Himmel steh'n")
24. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Book II, Der Leiermann ("Druben hinterm Dorfe steht ein Leitermann")

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5655 in Music
• Released on: 1998-10-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
Written the year before Schubert's death, these 24 songs describe a journey that takes us ever deeper into the frozen landscape of the soul, and this superb performance evokes and communicates every nuance of their wintry bleakness and despair. Quasthoff is a fabulous singer; his voice is dark, perfectly focused, infinitely variable in color and inflection; his intonation and diction are impeccable; his breath control is unlimited. Quasthoff identifies completely with both words and music; his deeply inward expressiveness makes these heartbreaking songs almost unbearably moving. The piano sound is a bit dry and remote, but the playing is splendid, setting mood and atmosphere, creating and underlining character and emotion. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Magnificient
I'd rather say that the interpretation of Thomas Quasthoff is a radically different one from that of Fischer-Dieskau. What's new in this recording is a kind of distance or objectivity in regard of these lieder, it's not a romantic version and that's what makes of it an even more tragic one. The phrases of Quasthoff accompanied marvellously by Spencer make us feel as we took part really in this freezing journey. I've got the chance to listen to a concert diffused by ZDF (Germany), where Quasthoff was accompanied by Maria Joao Pires. If somebody could tell me how to get in possession of this beautiful recording, I'd be a happy man, 'cause on this occasion I discovered my favourite baryton singer. To listen as well: Matthew-passion with H. Rilling by Hannsler Verlag

The essence of bass-baritone sound
I own five copies of Winterreise - Prey, Fischer-Dieskau, Goerne, and Hampson in addition to this one. All the rest take a very baritonal approach - Goerne seems to want to be a tenor most of the time. Quasthoff has a completely different sound; rich in quality throughout the registers. Note that he is also singing the standard Peters "Low Voice" keys.

Emotionally, this is also very satisfying. The craziness is not on the surface as with Hampson or (to some extent) Prey. In the last song, Leiermann, this a little disconcerting - there one almost expects the weirdness. But elsewhere, the approach is to grasp the musical core first, and then find the expressiveness in the words, not to tell an overall existential story. But each song is done very powerfully.

Thomas Quasthoff's new Winterreise is a wonderful find.
Everyone and his brother - tenors and baritones, at least -- seems to have recorded Schubert's heartbreaking song cycle, "A Winter's Journey." Until now, no one since Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's landmark offering of 1965 has sung these 24 songs with such a combination of pathos and artistry. Thomas Quasthoff, a 38-year-old German bass-baritone, is a direct descendant of Fischer-Dieskau's in terms of his mellow tone, impeccable intonation, and sensitive partnership with his admirable accompanist, Charles Spencer. He adds to these gifts his personal experience as a thalidomide baby, born with short stature and vestigial arms and hands. Awareness of physical disability disappears, however, as he takes on the persona of the tragic winter wanderer, leaving home and love behind.