Schubert: Winterreise

Franz [Vienna] Schubert (Composer), Leif Ove Andsnes (Performer), Ian Bostridge (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes, Ian Bostridge
• Composer: Franz [Vienna] Schubert
• Audio CD (September 7, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B0002I8UGG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,799 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Bostridge-Andsnes team has emerged as one of the top lieder recital duos on disc, and their devoted fans will want their controversial interpretation of Schubert's greatest song cycle. The controversy lies in what many will feel is Bostridge's excessive emphasis on textual explorations. For his admirers, this is his great strength, and here he sings Schubert's grim cycle with a dramatic intensity that portrays the desperation of the young protagonist. This is indeed a frozen winter's journey, presented with an admirable sense of drama and intimacy. But some will find it difficult to make the trip, considering Bostridge's staccato dramatics more an acting than a singing performance. In several songs, including "Auf dem Flusse" and "Rückblick," he ventures perilously close to the edge of what many listeners will accept. The singer contributes a booklet note that explains his interpretive stance and his textual changes. Andsnes, on his part, contributes some stunning pianism that's worth hearing. A fascinating journey then, if too individual a trip for many lieder fans to take. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Winterreise, September 9, 2004

By 

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

This cd is simply stunning. I've been a tremendous fan of Ian Bostridge for many years, and have anticipated the release of his signature work - Die Winterreise - for a LONG time. Upon learning of the US release date, I did some searching and found the cd was released a month early in Europe. I immediately ordered it from amazon.uk (England), paid the extra shipping, and tried as patiently as possible to await the arrival of the cd. The cd is more than worth the wait and added cost.

Now, onto the technical aspects of the music. Bostridge has an amazingly clear and ringing sound through the entire range. Die Winterreise is a vocal nightmare, falling trecherously between baritone and tenor voices, and comfortable for neither. Bostridge - a confessed tenor - really showcases his large range here, singing notes low in the bass clef staff with as much quality, volume, and clarity as those in his preferred register. I've been listening to some of his earlier recordings (notably Britten's Serenade) and Die Winterreise exhibits even more core and maturity in his sound. Some have criticized his voice quality as too light, and possibly unable to attain a robust sound. This cd captures that very quality at proper moments and should cause such critics to re-think their stances. Bostridge's technique is incredible - every nuance is felt with amazing control and clear direction. His attention to dynamic contrast is stunning - especially in "Der Lindenbaum" - and present throughout. The dark tale of longing told in Die Winterreise is furthered by an intense and emotional performance. Every time I listen to this recording - (which is very frequently since I have a copy in my car, home, and work) - I notice yet another clever detail Bostridge incorporated into his performance. The program notes, while strangely leaving out the general story of Die Winterreise, offers detailed and interesting notes regarding various musical choices the artists made. I could continue writing praise for this cd, but will leave the rest up to your own ears!

I was initially disappointed that Bostridge appears to have split with long-time collaborator Julius Drake, but the Bostridge/Andsnes combination has already won me over. I definitely recommend this cd without reservation.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schubert Dramatically Served Up by Bostridge and Andsnes, October 31, 2004

By 

Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schubert: Winterreise (Audio CD)

There appears to be a bumper crop of recordings of Schubert's valedictory song cycle, "Winterreise", what with baritone Matthias Goerne's release of the same material earlier this year. While bass-baritones are most known to tackle this program, this luckily doesn't prohibit a superb tenor like Ian Bostridge from conquering it, and he does so with a surprising edginess. I only know Bostridge from his rather callow presence on some recordings of late, such as Emmanuelle Haďm's stunning interpretation of Henry Purcell's opera "Dido and Aeneas" and a lovely though sometimes jarring version of Benjamin Britten's "The Canticles". This disc is nothing sort of a revelation. "Winterreise" is actually 24 inter-linked songs, which follow a Samuel Beckett-like wanderer as he tramps through the snowy countryside, his heart breaking from some recent romantic blowup. Darkly beautiful and unmistakably Schubert with its rolling piano interludes, this recording emerges as a heavily dramatic ghost story which makes death seem so insidious that it becomes irresistibly seductive.

Bostridge is thankfully not a showy singer, and with its even blend of dark and light hues, his mellifluous voice has the color and flexibility to make his singing sound as natural as conversation. He is particularly adept at communicating stark changes of mood, for instance, at the change from minor to major in "Gute Nacht" or the lightning-quick transition from the dream-like opening of "Frühlingstraum" to the desperate tone of the second verse. When need be, his voice soars with bitter anger and scales back to a fierce whisper as it does in "Erstarrung". Norwegian pianist Leif Andsnes proves to be up to the challenge of the program by melding the varying moods perfectly with Bostridge's vocals. For example, in the tender "Der Lindenbaum", Andsnes' shift from lilting delicacy to sepulchral gloom underscores the chasm between the happy past and anguished present as artfully as Bostridge's dreamy reveries and fiery declamation. But it is really the simplicity of approach by both performers, which allows the music and poems to speak for themselves. One would naturally assume this to be a weighty disc of doom and gloom, but I really find it quite enthralling, as Schubert's work really becomes a deeply involving portrait of a sensitive soul dealing with loss for the first time and becoming mortally wounded by the blow. This is a wonderfully unexpected recording of depth and beauty.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I must be out of step, January 7, 2007

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schubert: Winterreise (Audio CD)

Since Ian Bostridge and Leif Ove Andsnes both garner their fair share of raves at Amazon, I doubt I'll influence anyone by differing. EMI has a long-term commitment to these artists, a token of their standing in the world of clasical msuc, but I find their Winterreise (which I also heard live in Carnegie Hall) wrong-headed. In Lieder singing there has to be a balance between natural songfulness and artistic license. For me, Bostridge crosses the line. He overstates every emotion, underlines every point he makes, and projects every word of Mueller's not exactly great poetry with intense drama.

But I must not be a fair judge. The reason I flew to NY to hear this concert was, in part, to see if I really did find Bostridge's voice creepy. I did and do. There's no accounting for these quirks of personal taste. As for Andsnes, I sat and listened for any particular insights much less revelations, but all I heard was recessive, polite playing that was only a cut or two above any outstanding professional accompanist. So there it is. Fling your arrows.