Schubert: Winterreise op. 89, D. 911

Download Booklet >>

Schubert: Winterreise op. 89, D. 911

Label Challenge Classics

Artists Christoph Prégardien, Michael Gees

€23,99 EUR

Tax included.

Winning Awards

Bbc Music Mag 5Stars

Bbc Music Mag 5Stars

A song cycle as self-portrait

In the autumn of 1823, when the illness that five years later would take his life revealed its full intensity, Schubert composed Die schöne Müllerin, on texts by the German poet Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827). Central in this cycle of 20 lieder is a wandering miller’s helper who very briefly holds the illusion that he has found happiness. His beloved, however, a beautiful miller’s daughter, turns her attention to a handsome hunter, and the disappointed miller’s helper drowns himself in a stream.
Also in 1823, Müller published the first 12 poems of a new cycle, Winterreise, in which he again presents a young man who has left his hearth and home. This time, the protagonist is not searching for happiness, but fleeing after misfortune in love. The second series of 12 poems would appear a short time later, and in 1827, the year before his death, Schubert set this cycle to music, incidentally following the order in which it appeared – in February, he wrote the first 12 lieder and it was only in October that he got to the second half.

Thematically, Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise are in full keeping with the Romantic movement that was bursting forth everywhere, a growing uneasiness with social and economic developments leading to among other things the glorification of wandering and a return to nature, both as a counterbalance to disillusionment with reality. While the first cycle initially exudes hope and joie de vivre, Winterreise is from the beginning dominated by fatalism and a longing for death. One of the most popular lieder in the cycle, Der Lindenbaum, seems nothing less than the call of suicide, through which the cycle links with the end of Die schöne Müllerin, where the miller’s helper is drawn to the water in the stream.
In part due to arrangements for the theatre and film, a tendency arose to see the Winterreise cycle as a monodrama about a rejected lover who wanders out of sorrow. The foundation of this is the first lied, Gute Nacht, in which we hear that in the month of May, love still smiled upon the poet, but then all his dreams were smashed and he decided to roam the world. We are not told what exactly had happened; nowhere in the cycle do we hear a reproof or an indication of “guilt”, not even from the protagonist. He tells us only that he withdraws from the vicinity of his former beloved because he expects he would otherwise be hunted by dogs.

Tracklist

Total time: 01:10:28

1. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Gute Nacht

05:33

2. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Die Wetterfahne

01:43

3. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Gefrorne Tr_nen

02:13

4. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Erstarrung

02:56

5. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Der Lindenbaum

04:43

6. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Wasserflut

03:41

7. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Auf dem Flusse

03:25

8. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Rückblick

02:13

9. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Irrlicht

02:40

10. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Rast

03:23

11. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Fruhlingstraum

04:13

12. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Einsamkeit

02:56

13. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Die Post

02:22

14. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Der greise Kopf

02:35

15. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Die Krahe

01:57

16. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Letzte Hoffnung

02:08

17. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Im Dorfe

02:53

18. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Der sturmische Morgen

00:50

19. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Tuschung

01:18

20. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Der Wegweiser

04:01

21. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Das Wirtshaus

04:54

22. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Mut

01:20

23. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Die Nebensonnen

02:31

24. Winterreise op. 89, D. 911 - Der Leiermann

04:00

Additional Information

Label

Challenge Classics

SKU

CC72596

Qualities

DSD 64, FLAC 192 kHz, FLAC 96 kHz

Channels

5ch Surround, 2ch Stereo, 2ch Stereo & 5ch Surround

Artists

Christoph Prégardien, Michael Gees

Composers

Schubert

Genres

Classical

Original Recording Format

DSD 64

Instruments

Piano

Release Date

June 27, 2014

Reviews

BBC Music Magazine - classical-music.com

BBC Music Magazine - classical-music.com

Winterreise proves worth the wait. This Winterreise has a visionary quality that only the best achieve.

BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine

The Voice is in superb form, sensing out the underlying pulse and the minutest inflections of longing, delight, determination and soul-weariness within each lithe, live line of melody. Accompanying, Michael Gees has freshly reconsidered so much detail, too - possibly, it seems to me, with an ear to Schubert's late piano music.

Luister

Luister

Gees en Pregardien begrijpen elkaar precies in kleine vrijheden in tempo en accenten en voelen elkaar dynamisch voortreffelijk aan.

Gramophone

Gramophone

Pregardien remains at once one of the most scrupulous and moving interpreters of Winterreise.

Luister

Luister

De expressie is meer verinnerlijkt, waarbij Gees en Pregardian elkaar precies begrijpen en elkaar dynamisch voortreffelijk aanvoelen.

Luister

Luister

Met elk lied wel een verrassing in accent of detail.

www.sonograma.org

www.sonograma.org

ens convida a participar de l’experiència musical de dos excel·lents companys de viatge

www.opusklassiek.nl

www.opusklassiek.nl

Zó zingt Prégardien en zó begeleidt Gees. In iedere maat valt te horen hoezeer beiden door de jaren heen artistiek met elkaar vergroeid zijn geraakt. Diep ontroerend, diep tragisch en tegelijkertijd van een overweldigende authenticiteit

NDR

NDR

Noch immer setzt der Tenor auf einen schlichten Klang und eine ganz natürliche Sprachgestaltung. Eine Mischung, die zu Tränen rühren kann

RBB

RBB

Drei Komponenten ergänzen sich bei der vorliegenden Produktion auf geradezu idealtypische Weise: das Kunstwerk, seine kongeniale interpretatorische Darstellung und die modernste Audio- und Videotechnologie, die so professionell wie geschmackvoll in den Dienst der Musik und der Interpreten gestellt wird.

BR

BR

diese Aufnahme zeugt von tiefem Verständnis und intensiver Auseinandersetzung mit Schuberts Werk

Kulturradio am Mittag

Kulturradio am Mittag

Drei Komponenten ergänzen sich bei der vorliegende Produktion auf geradezu idealtypische Weise: das Kunstwerk, seine kongeniale interpretatorische Darstellung und die modernste Audio- und Videotechnologie, die so professionell wie geschmackvoll in den Dienst der Musik und der Interpreten gestellt wird.

Fono Forum

Fono Forum

Christoph Prégardien und Michael Gees überzeugen auf ganzer Linie

Sunday Times

Sunday Times

This is a powerfully original performance by Schubert's journey into the distracted mind.

Early Music Review

Early Music Review

This is beautiful singing by a master of his craft [...]. Michael Gees is a perfect accompanist, and allows Prégardien and the music plenty of room to breathe. [...] I was immediately captivated by the sheer beauty of the singing, the quality of the vioce and especially by the feeling that this man just 'lives' Winterreise.

The Scotsman

The Scotsman

Prégardien's ability to shade and mutate the delicate emotional inflections with almost imperceptible subtlety personalise this account, coupled with Gee's string but reflective playing.

Das Opernglas

Das Opernglas

Prégardien geht hier bewusst an die Grenzen seiner Stimme

Klassieke Zaken

Klassieke Zaken

Christoph Prégardien en Michael Gees bieden zonder meer voldoende stof tot inleving en ruime mogelijkheid om de gestalte van de protagonist via SACD in de fantasie tot leven te brengen.

De Volkskrant

De Volkskrant

Gees laat akkoorden in elkaar overvloeien, gumt nootjes uit, alles om de tekst en de deolate sfeer van de compositie voelbaar te maken en Prégardien laat zich maar al te graag met hem meevoeren. Het resultaat is een Winterreise die klinkt als een autobiografie.

Knack Focus

Knack Focus

In Michael Gees vindt Prégardien (een van de meest inspirerende liedzangers van zijn tijd) een volwassen kamermusicus als partner: iemand met een visie, die er niet alleen is om de zanger te pamperen, maar om hem van weerwoord te dienen. Grote kunst.

Mania Klassiek

Mania Klassiek

Vanaf de allereerste regels neemt Prégardien de luisteraar mee in reis die op de juiste momenten beheerst en zeer dramatisch is.

De Telegraaf

De Telegraaf

Hier zijn twee meestervertellers aan het werk. Ze doen zo precies het goede dat interpretatie en muziek volledig lijken te versmelten.

Schubert: Winterreise op. 89, D. 911

Schubert: Winterreise op. 89, D. 911

€23,99 EUR

Join the NativeDSD Membership Program

Become a Member

NativeDSD Music

Learn more