Franz SCHUBERT
Winterreise
Gordon Pullin (tenor), Hugh Mather (piano)
KBR 001
from Mr Pullin at "Treakles", The Street, Kettlebaston, Suffolk 1P7 7QA. £10.00 incl. p&p.

Visitors to this website will be familiar with my enthusiasm for Mr Pullin’s sympathetic skills in recordings of British music. Here he turns his attention to one of Schubert’s great song-cycles and his intelligent musicianship and admirably clear-diction do well for it. If he does understate the emotion this is, for me at least, one advantage as Winterreise is one of the most despairing and pessimistic of song sequences and can easily overwhelm a listener. Hugh Mather is a responsive accompanist and recording and balance are both excellent.

The insert does not reproduce the words, either original or in translation, but summarises the thrust of each song well enough. Definitely worth investigating.

Philip Scowcroft

 

Return to Index