RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Schwanengesang D.957 [54:14]
Auf dem Strom D.943* [9:51]
Die Sterne D.939 [3:20]
Mark Padmore (tenor); Paul Lewis (piano); *Richard Watkins (French horn)
rec. October 2010, Air Studios, Lyndhurst Hall, London. DDD
German texts and English & French translations included
HARMONIA MUNDI HMU 907520 [67:25]
This CD follows up the very fine versions by Mark Padmore and Paul Lewis of
Die Schöne Müllerin (review)
and Winterreise (review).
Their achievement here seems to be no less great than in the two previous
releases. As before, one of the key factors in the excellence of these Schubert
performances is that here we have two musicians, both of them distinguished
soloists in their own right, working in genuine partnership. Indeed, I was
struck by the fact that two of the finest previous recordings of Schwanengesang
that I know, those by Peter Schreier (Decca, 1989) and Matthias Goerne (Decca,
2003), have in common with this new release the presence of a noted virtuoso
pianist - respectively András Schiff and Alfred Brendel. Those great
pianists bring significant insights to the interpretation of this collection
of songs, as does Paul Lewis.
Unlike Die Schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, Schwanengesang
is not a song cycle. Rather, it is a collection of fourteen songs assembled
and published after the composer’s death by the publisher, Tobias Haslinger.
The collection comprises seven settings of poems by Ludwig Rellstab (1799-1860),
six by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) and, tacked on at the end somewhat incongruously,
one by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804-1875). Here Padmore and Lewis present the
songs in their conventional order. I say that because on their often-revelatory
disc Schreier and Schiff not only alter the usual ordering of both the Rellstab
and Heine groups but they also include an extra song within the Rellstab group
and, for good measure, make Seidl’s ‘Der Taubenpost’ the
first of a group of four settings of his poems by Schubert.
The Rellstab settings come first. Right from the outset Padmore and Lewis
set out their stall in ‘Liebesbotschaft’. Lewis’s playing
has a delightful fluency while Padmore’s delivery is easy and light
and there’s splendid clarity of diction - and, so far as I can judge,
his German pronunciation is excellent. I love the delicacy with which both
performers deliver the fourth stanza in particular, demonstrating that in
many ways this song takes us back to Die Schöne Müllerin.
The perfect weighting by Lewis of the chords in the introduction to ‘Kriegers
Ahnung’ creates a sense of foreboding and paves the way for singing
by Padmore that is often daring in its expressiveness - sample the hushed
tone in which he delivers the second line of the first stanza. There’s
a tremendous sense of atmosphere created in this song, due in no small measure
to the care that Padmore takes over the words.
The famous ‘Ständchen’ is performed in a graceful, relaxed
vein, yet a sense of melancholy is never far away. Lewis’s gentle accompaniment
delightfully suggests a guitar on which the serenading singer might have accompanied
himself. For the most part Padmore’s delivery is again light and easeful
but, rightly, he displays more urgency and passion in the penultimate stanza.
There’s vivid drama in ‘Aufenhalt’ - the title is translated
in the booklet as ‘Resting Place’ but there’s no repose
here. ‘In der Ferne’ is also intense, though in a different way.
Paul Lewis shows marvellous attention to detail in this song, especially in
the third stanza; as so often in this collection of songs his playing is really
insightful. The last of the Rellstab group, ‘Abschied’, takes
us back to the world of Die Schöne Müllerin. On the surface
the music seems almost light hearted but, of course, there are deeper feelings
below the surface. I love not only the lightness and momentum that Lewis brings
to the piano part but also his subtle use of rubato. Padmore’s singing
is irresistible, especially his effortless top notes.
With the Heine group we move into deeper waters. In several of these songs
we can see Schubert going even beyond the expressive and musical range of
Winterreise and pointing very firmly towards the language of mid- and
late-nineteenth century romanticism. ‘Der Atlas’ is a case in
point. Though the piano introduction is brief it comes across here with great
power in Lewis’s hands - I prefer his more sustained way with the music
to the way Schiff treats it; Lewis gives the music more breadth. Both Lewis
and Padmore bring impressive histrionic power to this song. Padmore may not
quite match the rhetorical bitterness of Schreier but he’s not far off.
‘Die Stadt’ is another remarkable song. I was enormously impressed
by the suspenseful piano introduction; the little washes of watery sound in
the right hand - a recurrent device in this song - are chilling. Padmore’s
mysterious, daringly hushed singing matches the vision of his partner and
then the declamatory power they bring to the third stanza is all the more
effective in contrast to what has gone before. ‘Am Meer’ is just
as fine. The piano introduction consists of a mere two chords, quietly sounded
twice, yet the way Lewis plays them is suggestive of a vast horizon. Padmore
sings the pensive first and third stanzas with excellent control, phrasing
in long, sustained lines. The poem - and the music - conveys more inner turmoil
in the second and fourth stanzas and Padmore’s response is judged to
perfection.
‘Der Doppelgänger’ is an extraordinary song and it receives
a riveting reading from these two perceptive artists. The short introduction
has been described by the critic Alex Ross as “an acutely unnerving
progression in B minor in which each chord has been lobotomized by the surgical
removal of one essential note. These chords draw a picture of a walking corpse.”
Lewis plays this passage enthrallingly, achieving a depth and profundity of
sonority that creates a potent atmosphere. His erstwhile teacher, Brendel,
is even more hushed on the Goerne account (a live recording taken from performances
at the Wigmore Hall) but I don’t think he matches Lewis’s depth
of tone. Both pianists make the music sound glacial. The tempo is daringly
slow, as is that taken by Goerne and Brendel - and it’s noticeable that
Schreier and Schiff, who are also superbly expressive, take a whole minute
less over the song. However, Padmore and Lewis sustain the line of the song
magnificently, even at this slow pace, and the tension in the performance
is palpable. In their hands the first stanza has an eerie stillness and then
they rack up the tension significantly in the second stanza. Padmore is searingly
intense, even if in the middle lines of the third stanza he doesn’t
choose to harden his tone in the Loge-like way that Schreier does. The last
line is superbly delivered. ‘So manche Nacht’ sounds as if the
words have been wrenched from him and then he displays superb control, easing
the dynamic downwards on ‘in alter Zeit?’
In some ways I’ve never felt less like hearing ‘Die Taubenpost’
than after this account of ‘Der Doppelgänger’. It’s
always struck me as an odd appendage to the collection, almost as if Haslinger
didn’t dare leave listeners with the searing emotion and bleak despair
of that final Heine setting and wanted the last impression to be that of the
genial Schubert. It’s interesting to note that in their recording Schreier
and Schiff end the Heine group not with ‘Der Doppelgänger’
but with ‘Der Atlas’. Even more revealingly, Goerne and Brendel
seem to have presented ‘Die Taubenpost’ to their Wigmore Hall
audience as an encore because there’s applause after ‘Der Doppelgänger’.
For domestic listening one can always hit the pause button and in any event
Padmore and Lewis give a winning account of ‘Die Taubenpost’.
Crucially, although the setting may be more charming and overtly innocent
than the preceding songs they pay it the compliment of lavishing on it the
same attention to detail. Once again Lewis includes some delectable little
touches of rubato while Padmore’s care for the words is as evident as
always. By comparison Schreier and Schiff, at a fleeter tempo, are more straightforward
and less interventionist in their performance. That’s highly appropriate
in many ways but I relish the additional insights of Padmore and Lewis.
To complete the disc Padmore and Lewis offer two further late Schubert settings.
Auf dem Strom is an extended setting of another Rellstab poem in which
the texture is embellished by the addition of a substantial horn part, superbly
played here by Richard Watkins. Padmore’s plangent tone is an ideal
foil to the ripely romantic sound of the horn. Finally, Padmore and Lewis
take their leave of us with a beguiling reading of Die Sterne. This
genial setting is, arguably, echt-Schubert and the lightness of touch
displayed by both singer and pianist result in a winning performance.
This disc rounds off this Schubert series superbly. This magnificent reading
of Schwanengesang is one of the best I’ve heard and it’s
a worthy companion to the two preceding discs. Both the singing and the pianism
are of the very highest quality and the recorded sound is splendid. Mark Padmore
and Paul Lewis may have finished their Schubert traversal - though some further
recordings of individual songs would be more than welcome - but I sincerely
hope we haven’t heard the last of them as a recital partnership.
John Quinn
Masterwork Index: Schwanengesang
A magnificent reading of Schwanengesang.