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Classicalsource |
Alexander Campbell |
Schubert: Die Winterreise, Edinburgh, 16 August 2003
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Queen's Hall |
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On a rather warm day, Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut
Deutsch treated a packed audience to Schubert’s most wintry and melancholy
song cycle – Simon Keenlyside also gave one. Kaufmann’s Queens Hall recital
of last year was one of the sensations of the Festival and his return was
eagerly awaited.
It may have been the heat or the fact that Kaufmann’s voice and appearance
are so Mediterranean and healthy that the cycle did not prove quite as
engaging as it might otherwise have done. Winterreise is difficult to bring
off in performance as it is far less programmatic that the other great
Schubert cycles and there is no particular storyline running through the
songs. This was perhaps one of the reasons why the cycle was so puzzling to
the composer’s contemporaries.
Perhaps the singer could have introduced a little more feeling of gradual
descent into melancholy or a sense of increasing desperation or urgency so
as to prevent the songs becoming something of a litany.
Kaufmann had a lot to offer nonetheless. He sings with clear tone, unfailing
musicality and with good control of dynamic and colour, and he has a direct
and unmannered from of communication. He stands largely motionless and does
not gesture much, which compels an audience to concentrate on the text and
his expressive face; in a venue as intimate as the Queen’s Hall this pays
dividends.
Kaufmann’s diction is superb and the text was beautifully inflected. Helmut
Deutsch is an experienced player of these songs and the understated yet
concentrated interaction between the two was impressive, each allowing the
other pride of place as the text, tune or accompaniment demanded.
Some of the songs were extraordinarily well sung – in particular Erstarrung
with its depiction of cold winter having replaced joyous spring, and
solitude replacing love. Sung on a wisp of tone and with little vibrato this
was great singing. Also successful was Auf dem Flusse for similar reasons,
as the once rushing chattering wild stream flows silently as the poet
watches and muses of past love. The pain and emotion within each of the
songs was always present and each was characterised with variety on its own
terms. What was sometimes missing was a sense of anger, particularly in
songs like Der stürmische Morgen.
The cycle concluded with a truly haunting rendition of Der Leiermann with
Deutsch providing a truly frosty depiction of the futile playing of the
hurdy-gurdy man and Kaufmann exploiting the acoustic of the hall in a
matching expression of despair. A suitably long pause was granted after the
final chord had finished sounding before the audience applauded very
enthusiastically. |
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