Winnipeg Free Press, 12/12/2009

James Manishen

Die Schöne Müllerin

Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano)

At the outset of Schubert's epic cycle you wonder if Kaufmann's heroic tones are rightly cast for the naïve miller that loses the girl to a hunter and drowns his sorrows in a brook. Kaufmann's tenor often conveys a baritone in disguise, with a rugged strength and arsenal of operatic gesture at his command, but as the cycle unfolds you realize what an accomplishment this 63-minute journey is. Kaufmann is especially attentive to the play of the strophic songs, keenly varying return verses within plan and character while never falling to mere narration. Though you sense he could slay the hunter with a backhand, the brook's final call to rest is touchingly reined in. Of course you need an equal partner at the piano for Schubert, and Helmut Deutsch acts as the ideal support.