Track Listing

1. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Gute Nacht
2. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Die Wetterfahne
3. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Gefrorne Tränen
4. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Erstarrung
5. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Der Lindenbaum
6. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Wasserflut
7. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Auf dem Flusse
8. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Rückblick
9. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Irrlicht
10. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Rast
11. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Frühlingstraum
12. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Einsamkeit
13. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Die Post
14. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Der greise Kopf
15. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Die Krähe
16. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Letzte Hoffnung
17. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Im Dorfe
18. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Der stürmische Morgen
19. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Täuschung
20. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Der Wegweiser
21. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Das Wirtshaus
22. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Mut
23. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Die Nebensonnen
24. Winterreise, song cycle for voice & piano, D. 911 (Op. 89): Der Leiermann

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48263 in Music
• Released on: 2004-03-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Amazon.com
Composed at the end of his life, Schubert's cycle Winterreise contains some of the bleakest, most shattering music ever written; he himself described it as "spine-chilling." As always, he turned literary dross into musical gold, transforming the relentless self-absorption of Müller's Wanderer, who reflects everything he sees back upon himself, into a heartbreaking human tragedy. It is the music that mirrors the barren wintry landscape in the soul's hopeless desolation on this journey whose numbly desired destination is death. In a great performance, these 24 songs--most of them slow, two-thirds in minor keys--can be overwhelming and this one, recorded live at London's Wigmore Hall (with applause at the beginning and ovations at the end), must be one of the greatest. Goerne's voice, famous for its incomparably pristine purity and velvety mellowness, is capable of an incredible variety of color, nuance and inflection; every note is infused with sustained expressiveness. But Brendel's piano also sounds extraordinarily beautiful; together they almost literally paint images, moods and feelings--not in the usual sense of "word-painting," (though Goerne has a way with coloring specific words), but rather through their infinite, loving attention to subtle changes in harmony and melodic contours, their phrasing and rhythmic flexibility. Brendel knows just how to bring out important lines and how to control dynamics and articulation; his preludes and postludes are miracles of setting and maintaining atmosphere. They favor slow tempi. There is a sense of limitless time in their poised transitions, long pauses, their affectionate lingering over significant words and notes. Yet the continuity and cohesion of each song as well as of the whole cycle are never broken; the musical and emotional concentration never flags from first note to last. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Buy this now!
The only things I would have changed are the introductory and concluding applause, at least placing them on separate tracks. Other than that, the audience doesn't once get in the way. As for the performance, it easily trumphs each performer's previous recording -- Matthias Goerne with Graham Johnson, and Alfred Brendel with Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. The sound is very good. There are many moments of very touching intimacy. Quietude, introspection, prayer. Pianism is very good, very well phrased, very well balances. The singing is astonishing. I found myself breathless, nearly in tears -- maybe because this is my favorite song cycle, maybe because Matthias Goerne is my favorite vocalist. Regardless, this is a flawless and very powerful interpretation, to which I'm sure to find myself returning more than any other for quite awhile. I own many recordings of this work (3 Dieskau, 3 Hotter, 2 Prey, Hampson, Bar, Souzay, Vickers, Pears, Quasthoff, Greindl, Schmidt, Patzak, 2 Goerne) and this is my favorite.

Desolate beauty..
It was quite right that my copy of Winterreise arrived during an unexpected snow storm. Although the robins and emerging daffodils seemed a bit discouraged by the occurence, my daughter and I savored the storm while listening to this interpretation of Schubert's work. The artists presented an incomparable reading, blending beauty of tone with astounding technique. No vocalist comes close to matching Goerne in this music. No one seems as able to tap into desolate beauty so effortlessly while completely avoiding bathos. There is a nobility to this despair. BTW...my daughter's favorite was Irrlicht...she adores the vision of the will'o wisp's enticements. She and I have decided to save our pennies this summer so that we can make a pilgrimage to NYC to hear Goerne in the Magic Flute next autumn. A worthy goal!

A superb "Winterreise"
This live 2004 performance of Schubert's "Winterreise" has caused different reactions. In parts of old Europe, it has been hailed as something very special. By contrast, in the US, some reviewers have had great difficulties with Goerne's style, claiming that he rather whispers and shouts instead of actually singing.

Considering the latter opinion, it is clear that Goerne has his own style. But what's the problem with that? One reviewer here at amazon says that Schubert's "Winterreise" has its "greatest impact when sung with unaffected emootional [sic!] directness". Dan Davis at Classicstoday says that Goerne's performance is "still marred by overinterpretation that, while apparently deeply felt, comes off as self-regarding." He also thinks that Goerne occasionally adopts a "quasi-sprechstimme style" in his performance.

Apparently these guys hold the view that there are great restrictions in interpreting Schubert's "Winterreise". You're out of bounds if you dare to do something personal with it.

When I listen to this performance I cannot see that this objection is relevant. Goerne and Brendel is an ideal match, as in the cases of Pears/Britten, Fischer-Dieskau/Moore, and Hotter/Moore. All these recordings make sense to me, in their own ways. Together with Hans Hotter's recording, however, I think this is the most personal and disturbing performance that I have heard - "disturbing" in the sense of moving; that the particular mood of these desolated songs actually is transmitted through the interpretation as such. It is of course possible to sing "Winterreise" with a beautiful tone, more or less ignoring the content of Müller's poems. For example, Fischer-Dieskau often strikes me as more focussed on his beautiful tone than on the bitter moods in the traveller's songs. By contrast, I think that Goerne/Brendel and Hotter/Moore perform this work as it represents its own world to us.

This is a contemporary "Winterreise" for our times. That means that it articulates a performance of Schubert's work that is both representative and highly individualistic. Not even Hotter took it as far as Goerne. This is of course chocking to some people. But it could be seen as perfectly consistent with the work's internal structure.

Sound is fine, audience is mainly quiet, Brendel's playing is superb.

Highly recommended!