Schubert: Die Schone Mullerin

Franz Schubert (Composer), Mitsuko Uchida (Performer), Ian Bostridge (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Mitsuko Uchida, Ian Bostridge
• Composer: Franz Schubert
• Audio CD (March 1, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B0006Z1ZPI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,777 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Ian Bostridge has long been associated with Schubert's songs and admired for his highly personal approach to them. This is his second recording of Die schöne Müllerin. He preserves the songs' original keys and his light, bright tenor is perfect for the young miller-journeyman who finds work but loses his heart. Wilhelm Müller wrote his poems for a popular domestic pastime, charades. His heading, "To be read in Winter," indicates their light-hearted nature. Schubert's music, however, gives this literary fluff emotional weight and intensity, taking the hero on an inward journey from naïve, carefree optimism through ecstasy and jealousy to suicidal despair. Composed in 1823, the year Schubert's syphilis was diagnosed, the Müllerin's downward spiral suggests a personal parallel to some commentators. In his program notes, Bostridge rejects this but explores other psychological connections and ambiguities in both the words and the music. This may account for a certain lack of spontaneity and simplicity in his singing: his exaggerated contrasts of dynamics, articulation, nuance and inflection, as well as his habit of delaying and swelling his vibrato, sound mannered and artificial. However, when he lets his voice flow out freely, it is glorious, radiant with transparent light. Mitsuko Uchida, herself a renowned Schubert interpreter, evokes an outer and inner landscape of bright and muted colors, murmuring brooks, turning mill-wheels, hopes, joys, sorrows, tears and death. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In a Realm of its Own, March 31, 2005

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Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schubert: Die Schone Mullerin (Audio CD)

Three aspects make this extraordinary recording one to treasure: Franz Schubert, Mitsuko Uchida, Ian Bostridge. Schubert song cycles have long been the testing ground for both singers and pianists, so revealing are they of technique and depth of musicality, and for this listener these artists surpass expectations and create the gold standard by which all future performances must be judged.

Both of the artists, here captured in perfect form by the EMI engineers, are at the peak of their careers. Mitsuko Uchida has garnered accolades for her performances of many composers' works for solo piano, piano with quartet, and concerti and yet her interpretations of Schubert's oeuvre seem closest to her soul. Here she is eloquent in her collaboration with tenor Ian Bostridge and the result is a recital of "Die Schone Mullerin" that is now the finest on record.

Ian Bostridge is a unique tenor. His range is such that his lightness of touch is the most delicate of tenor tones and yet he is equally comfortable in the lower ranges of these songs, sound like the lyric baritone that he comfortably couples with his tenor range. The poetry of the music, the moods, the breathing between phrases and between songs - all are palpably correct.

But it is the collaboration of these two artists that create the absolute equality of Schubert's intentions. There are other very fine recordings of this cycle but few can match the sublime artistry and conviction and virtuosity of their perfect "Die Schone Mullerin". Highly recommended. Grady Harp, March 05

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Recording by Bostridge, March 6, 2005

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Justin Windschitl (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schubert: Die Schone Mullerin (Audio CD)

Another beautiful recording by Ian Bostridge, to place alongside all of his other fantastic Schubert cds. Although Die Winterreise is one of my favorite pieces, I was quite unfamiliar with Die Schoene Muellerin prior to purchasing this recording. He's been quite busy lately, releasing a number of cds in the past months, but the quality and precision of each recording is not sacrificed.

Bostridge has such an effortless, pure, melodic voice - regardless of the demands of the music he is able to develop the line and phrase with clear direction. His intonation is perfect, regardless of dynamic or range. I have rarely heard such beautiful, SOFT, singing - every dynamic nuance is fully explored. Some people criticize Bostridge for over-interpreting, but I personally find him fresh, exciting, and above all, entertaining. Instead of using a more reserved, narrative role, he really embodies the young man in love with the miller girl. Bostridge lets us FEEL the emotions and really draws me into the performance.

One slight criticism - Bostridge's low register doesn't project as well in this recording as I've heard from him in the past. I especially noticed this in "Der Jaeger" (Track 14), when some of the low Ds are quite soft. This doesn't distract from the music, however, and I only mention it so you understand I'm not so obsessed with Bostridge that I fail to approach this review with any impartiality. :)

Regarding the collaboration with Mitsuko Uchida - the two perform INCREDIBLY together. Uchida brings a knowledge of Schubert's music to the duo that can hardly be matched.

Bostridge provides the program notes: they weren't particularly satisfying to me, although I read them late at night after a day of studying...so maybe that's why the notes seemed sort of "heady" to me.

A beautiful, expressive, cd that I enthusiastically recommend!!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Uneven acoustics, October 7, 2006

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Tom Lawrence "tomtrumpet" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schubert: Die Schone Mullerin (Audio CD)

As many times as I've listened to this recording I can't get past the acoustics to enjoy the performance. The piano sounds like it was recorded under a horse blanket, dampening any brightness or upper partials. The singer sounds like he is in a phone booth, all brightness with no lower resonance. It is as if the engineers did not want the piano to interfere with the lightness of Bostridge's voice. Unfortunately, the result isolates each performer in the frequency spectrum, making it hard for me unify what I am hearing.