The main reason for
issuing yet another recording of Die
schöne Müllerin is, according
to the performers: "…we aimed for
a more rhetorical, ‘live-for-the-moment’
approach to the text, especially in
the strophic songs. Moreover, to help
characterize these small-scale events,
we treated tempo flexibility as a perfectly
viable expressive device. We also opted
in favour of adding certain improvised
embellishments, including freely applied
arpeggiation in the piano. Finally we
decided to use a modern replica of an
early 19th-century piano
with its vast spectrum of color and
articulation."
When it comes to the
embellishments of the song lines, it
is not done without deep consideration.
Kobow and Bezuidenhout have even studied
the changes to the voice-part that Johann
Michael Vogl, the famous Viennese baritone,
made and that luckily have been preserved.
Vogl was regarded as the foremost interpreter
of Schubert’s songs during, and also
after, the composer’s lifetime and was
greatly admired by the composer.
All this of course
sounds thrilling and innovative and
it was with a great deal of curiosity
and expectancy that I put the CD in
my player. What came out of it was far
less revolutionary than I had anticipated,
and following the performance with the
1970 Dover edition in hand, which is
"an unabridged republication of
selected sections from Series 20 (Lieder
und Gesänge) of Franz Schubert’s
Werke, Kritisch durchgesehene Gesammtausgabe,
originally published by Breitkopf &
Härtel, Leipzig, in 1895",
I found modest, very tasteful alterations
and additions to the "original"
but also in several cases melismas and
other decorations in the printed music
not observed by Kobow. Yes, there
are embellishments and some interpretative
freedom in the piano-part: a broken
chord here, some dotted rhythms there,
where the score even has semiquavers,
but all this is done so discreetly and
in such a musicianly way that probably
no one would react let alone be upset.
What is beyond doubt
is that this is a very fine performance,
one that catches you from the start
and holds the interest through the twenty
songs. One obvious reason for this is
the choice of instrument and the playing
of it. South African born Kristian Bezuidenhout,
who teaches fortepiano and 18th-century
performance practice at the Eastman
School of Music, is an excellent accompanist
and having worked extensively with Jan
Kobow he has an instinctive feeling
for when to hold back and when to move
forward. The piano part is exquisitely
translucent without losing any of the
power of the writing. The fast moving
Am Feierabend (track 5) shows
both artists at their best. The freedom
they allow themselves according to their
concept means that the rhythms and the
ebb and flow of the music are always
alive – no metronomic rigidity here.
The nervous eagerness of Ungeduld
(track 7) is also finely caught.
I first became aware
of Berlin-born Jan Kobow when I reviewed
the Naxos recording of Haydn’s Die
Schöpfung earlier this year
(review).
He made a favourable impression then
and he seems on this hearing to be an
ideal Lieder-singer with a colourful
voice that obviously obeys his every
interpretative wish. His is a full-blooded,
expressive but still lyrical voice,
a far cry from some Lieder-singing tenors’
anaemic sounds. There is a freshness
and susceptibility about his approach.
Probably this is the outcome of all
this re-thinking that, however radical
it may seem in theory, does not basically
change the musical message but paves
the way for a more open-minded reading
of the text – and the music – and at
the same time blows away some cobwebs.
Although I have copious notes on my
note-pad I leave it to the listener
to explore the many wonderful things
on this disc, but the jubilant end of
Trockne Blumen (track 18): "…der
Mai ist kommen, der Winter ist aus."
is something to treasure, just as the
last song of them all, Des Baches
Wiegenlied (track 20) where they
end the last stanza with a marked ritardando
on "… der Himmel da oben wie ist
er so weit!" and a long fermata
on the last word, whereupon the remaining
three-bar piano postlude makes the cycle
come to a definitive stand-still.
Others may think that
this re-thinking is more revolutionary
than I do; to me this is one of the
freshest and most uplifting interpretations
of Die schöne Müllerin
I have come across for a very long time.
Perfectly balanced sound, a thought-provoking
analysis by Susan Youens and the lyrics
in three languages further enhance the
attraction of this issue. I will eagerly
look forward to their next collaboration
– why not a Winterreise?
Göran Forsling
Jan Kobow (tenor) 
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