The Naxos Schubert-Lied-Edition
has come a long way since its auspicious
start late in 1998 with one of the best
Winterreises in the catalogue
(Naxos 8.554471). That version was sung
by Roman Trekel with Ulrich Eisenlohr,
who is also the pianist on this double
CD and the master-mind behind the series.
He follows Graham Johnson’s example
from the Hyperion Schubert Edition -
more or less finished when Naxos started
- by providing the booklet notes; very
good they are too. In little space he
manages to squeeze in a lot of interesting
information. The space is only limited
when compared to the bumper books that
Johnson sometimes enclosed, and they
were in English only while Eisenlohr
has to compete with himself with texts
in two languages. What we don’t get
in this issue is the sung texts with
translations, but they can be found,
as is Naxos’s new policy, at www.naxos.com/libretti.
This series is to be
completed before the end of this year
(2005), so we can obviously look forward
to several more issues soon. Through
this traversal of these eternally fresh
songs we have been introduced to several
excellent singers and one of the best
so far (I have missed just three or
four of the issues) is to be found on
CD 1 of this set.
Lothar Odinius has
a fine lyrical tenor with brilliance
at the upper end and a surprisingly
powerful lower register, something that
may point in the direction of, say,
Max in Der Freischütz and maybe
further on Lohengrin and Walther. So
far he has largely confined his singing
to Mozart (Ferrando and Tamino). I would
think it wise for him to stick to that
repertoire, but it will be interesting
to follow his development. As it is
he has great warmth to complement the
brilliance and superb technique with
a capacity to sing long phrases on a
single breath. He moves effortlessly
and imperceptibly between head-voice
and chest-voice. His phrasing is exemplary
throughout; he makes every phrase tell
by means of voice colouring, although
he is also keen with the words. He makes
the most of the overlong dramatic scene
Leichenfantasie (Funeral Fantasy)(CD
1 track 3), not the most suitable subject
for a 14-year-old, one would think.
Death was so much more part of everyday
life in Schubert’s time. I remember
when I first heard this song (19 minutes!)
with Sir Thomas Allen (Hyperion Schubert
Edition – 16) that, in spite of my admiration
for Allen’s marvellous mahogany baritone
and his power of insight, I doubted
that I would ever want to listen to
the whole song again. Well, I sat through
it and enjoyed every minute. It didn’t
feel half as long as it actually was.
I even listened to Allen for another
19 minutes and was still enthusiastic.
Odinius doesn’t possess the weight of
Allen, of course - what tenor does?
– but he colours his voice and finds
just as many nuances; that is a feat
in itself. I compared Odinius with Allen
in two more songs, Das Geheimnis
D 793 and Der Jüngling am
Bache D 638 and he didn’t come in
second.
There are not many
so-called ‘standard’ songs in this issue
but the observant reader may already
have noticed that it presents several
Schiller texts in alternative settings,
ranging from very early (Des Mädchens
Klage D6 is Schubert’s first song
– bar one) to very near the end of the
composer’s life. It is instructive to
compare and see the quite different
approach to the same text at different
times. Listening to Schubert songs is
always life-enhancing and even if not
all of them are masterpieces there are
constantly interesting turns of phrase
or just a beautiful melody that is a
pleasure to listen to, especially when
sung so well as Lothar Odinius does
here. This disc is from beginning to
end Schubert singing on the highest
possible level.
I am more doubtful
when it comes to the second disc. Swiss
soprano Maya Boog has been around since
the early 1990s, singing in particular
18th century repertoire.
Her light lyrical voice has been a nimble
and attractive instrument. She can sing
a fine pianissimo without vibrato in
the authentic baroque tradition and
then let it expand to very good effect.
But she has developed a quite prominent
vibrato on high forte notes, which can
be irritating, although it is still
within the norm for my acceptance. More
problematic is a shrillness on high
notes ... and sometimes not so high.
This is a sound that grates on your
ear after a while. There is no denying
her involvement and that there is much
thought behind her interpretations.
She can sing softly and in a heartfelt
way as for example in the second setting
of Des Mädchens Klage D
191 (CD 2 track 4). Still it is a monochrome
rendering, especially when compared
to any song with Lothar Odinius who
has such a rich palette of colours.
And we need only go to Elly Ameling
in the same song (Hyperion Schubert
Edition – 7) to find a soprano with
more nuances, more inflections. Ameling
was past fifty then and her vibrato
has loosened but she still digs deeper.
Maya Boog has also
one of those long (16½ minutes) scenes,
Klage der Ceres (CD 2 track 6),
where she actually sounds in better
shape: the vibrato is nicely controlled,
the voice sounds warmer and fuller and
the top notes ring out freely and with
considerable beauty. As a whole the
second half of her disc shows her to
much better advantage. Perhaps they
were recorded on different days.
Ulrich Eisenlohr, whose
masterminding and writings I praised
at the beginning of this review, is
also a wonderful pianist. His backing
of the singers contributes to no small
extent to the general success of the
whole project; he has been the pianist
on the majority of the issues so far.
In one or two instances he felt a bit
heavy-handed as compared to Graham Johnson
(the first few bars of Das Geheimnis
D 793 (CD 1 track 7) but that is just
the exception that proves the rule.
Most of the songs may
be unknown to the non-Schubertians.
I have ventilated some reservations
concerning the second disc but much
is good, the songs are worth hearing
and I do urge readers to listen to Lothar
Odinius. He is a find!
Göran Forsling
For reviews of other releases in this
series,
see the Naxos
Deutsche Schubert-Lied Edition page
Maya Boog (soprano)(CD 2), Lothar Odinius
(tenor)(CD 1), Ulrich Eisenlohr (piano) 
