MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS
Sound Samples & Downloads

Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Die schöne Müllerin, D795
Christopher Maltman (baritone)
Graham Johnson (piano)
rec. live, 8 December 2010, Wigmore Hall, London. DDD
German texts and English translations included
WIGMORE HALL LIVE WHLIVE0044 [62:34]

Experience Classicsonline


The catalogue is not exactly short of recordings of Die schöne Müllerin, a number of which are extremely fine, so a new version needs to be rather special if it’s to be noticed. I don’t think this new recording by Christopher Maltman will have much difficulty in attracting the attention of collectors for here is an exciting, imaginative interpretation of Schubert’s great song cycle, thrillingly sung and in which the piano part is played with great perception by the doyen of recital accompanists.
 
I love live recordings, especially those which document a single performance as opposed to those edited together from more than one performance. With a live reading you may get the odd technical glitch; there’s always the possibility of intrusive audience noise - though that’s not a problem here; and there can be infelicities of balance that, like the technical glitches, would have been edited out under studio conditions. But when things come together in performance and an artist is inspired by the presence of an audience then he or she may well take a few risks and give more in performance. It’s fruitless to speculate whether the present performance would have turned out differently had it been recorded in the studio, but what we have here is something pretty special. 

One thing that strikes me is the extent to which Christopher Maltman employs dynamic contrast and the use of the head voice. These things not only impart a real sense of atmosphere; they also enable him to draw his listeners more into the story. The use of such vocal techniques don’t come across as artificial in any way but just as elements in his array of expressive devices through which he puts the music across in an involving and committed way. Incidentally, one thing that I’ve learned since listening to the CD is that, according to a critic from The Times, who was present at the concert itself, Maltman often used higher keys than is normal for a baritone. Since I don’t have perfect pitch that’s not something I would have noticed for myself but it may help to explain why there’s a lightness of tone in this performance that one doesn’t always get in low voice readings. I don’t mean to imply, by the way, that the tone is lightweight - Maltman has a good, solid low register, which he deploys to good effect - but there’s no trace of heaviness in the performance.
 
Examples of this light tone and the use of head voice abound. As early on as the end of the penultimate stanza of ‘Wohin?’ Maltman uses mezza voce and carries that across into the last stanza, all to excellent effect. Again, in ‘Ungeduld’, after opening with impetuous ardour Maltman fines back the sound, employing a very restrained head voice in the last line of the second stanza - ‘Dein ist mein Herz, und soll es ewig bleiben’ - and he sustains that effect for much of the succeeding verse also. Imaginative singing such as this makes it quite easy for him to suggest the character of the young man, something that tenors often find easier to accomplish than baritones.
 
Having stressed the subtlety of the singing I should make it clear that Maltman also has ample reserves of forthright tone when required. The start of ‘Ungeduld’, already mentioned, offers one such example and there’s plenty of dynamism in ‘Der Jäger’, where the singing is exciting - as is the piano playing.
 
Overall, I’m sure that Maltman seeks to portray a vulnerable young man - and he’s right to do so. Therefore light, controlled singing is, for the most part, the order of the day. His reading of ‘Trockne Blumen’ is memorable. The technical control is superb and is the bedrock of an interpretation that’s mainly withdrawn in tone until near the end when the closing stanza is built to a (defiantly?) powerful climax. In this, as throughout the performance, Graham Johnson is as one with him throughout.
 
Johnson’s pianism is a delight from start to finish. Anyone who has read his superb notes for the Hyperion Schubert Lieder series will know that he has a profound understanding of Schubert’s songs. That understanding, and the depth of his musical and intellectual collaboration with Christopher Maltman, is evident throughout this performance. His playing is superbly poised in ‘Der Neugierige’, supporting everything that Maltman does with the words and the music of the vocal line, not least the very palpable sense of longing that the singer brings to the third and fifth stanzas. In ‘Der Jäger’ Johnson invests the music with just the right amount of rhythmic impetus yet never makes it sound hard driven - this isn’t ‘Erlkönig’. And at the very end of the cycle, in ‘Des Baches Wiegenlied’, Johnson’s beautifully weighted accompaniment is the perfect foundation on which Maltman can deliver the gentle poignancy of the vocal line.
 
In short, both singer and pianist are masterly throughout this performance. There are no overblown histrionics yet Maltman uses vocal colouring and dynamic shading to tell the story of the lovelorn, naïve youth expressively. The youth’s ultimately fruitless pursuit of the girl of his dreams is brought vividly to life and the listener is drawn in. This is a performance of Die schöne Müllerin to which I’m sure I’ll return often in the future.
 
The label’s usual high presentational standards are maintained. The recorded sound is excellent, with a good, credible balance between singer and piano, and the booklet contains a good note by Hilary Finch. One particularly perceptive phrase caught my eye in which she refers to Schubert’s music as “a suggestive stage manager” as Wilhelm Müller’s tale is unfolded for the audience. As I commented earlier, the audience is commendably unobtrusive and though there’s well-merited applause at the end the Wigmore Hall patrons are sufficiently discerning that they give the performance a little time to settle at the end before showing their appreciation.
 
John Quinn 

Mastework Index: Die schöne Müllerin

 

 

 

 

 


 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.