Winterreise
Composed at the end of his life, Schubert's cycleWinterreisecontains some of the bleakest, most shattering music ever written; he himself described it as "spine-chilling." As always, he turned literary dross into musical gold, transforming the relentless self-absorption of Müller's Wanderer, who reflects everything he sees back upon himself, into a heartbreaking human tragedy. It is the music that mirrors the barren wintry landscape in the soul's hopeless desolation on this journey whose numbly desired destination is death. In a great performance, these 24 songs--most of them slow, two-thirds in minor keys--can be overwhelming and this one, recorded live at London's Wigmore Hall (with applause at the beginning and ovations at the end), must be one of the greatest. Goerne's voice, famous for its incomparably pristine purity and velvety mellowness, is capable of an incredible variety of color, nuance and inflection; every note is infused with sustained expressiveness. But Brendel's piano also sounds extraordinarily beautiful; together they almost literally paint images, moods and feelings--not in the usual sense of "word-painting," (though Goerne has a way with coloring specific words), but rather through their infinite, loving attention to subtle changes in harmony and melodic contours, their phrasing and rhythmic flexibility. Brendel knows just how to bring out important lines and how to control dynamics and articulation; his preludes and postludes are miracles of setting and maintaining atmosphere. They favor slow tempi. There is a sense of limitless time in their poised transitions, long pauses, their affectionate lingering over significant words and notes. Yet the continuity and cohesion of each song as well as of the whole cycle are never broken; the musical and emotional concentration never flags from first note to last.--Edith Eisler