[ Sony Classics / CD ]
Release Date: Wednesday 25 October 2017
14 years after his first recording, the acclaimed baritone and "most moving singer of the world" (The Telegraph) turns back to Die schöne Müllerin together with long-time collaborator and pianist: Gerold Huber.
Die schöne Müllerin has always been seen as the most important lieder cycle because of its full-length narrative dimension based on a popular and rather simple story: a disillusioned love between a miller's daughter and a young miller's apprentice.
With this new recording of Die schöne Müllerin including five poems, not set to music by Schubert, Christian Gerhaher turns Schubert's famous song cycle with new insights and a new approach.
Christian Gerhaher gives insights of his new interpretation in the booklet he wrote especially for this release.
"This is a most distinguished account. Gerhaher's voice, a fairly light baritone, retains its youthful sound and his articulation is superb - this is someone living the words, not reporting on the miller's journey…Huber is a marvellous pianist, urging the story along to riveting effect" BBC Music
"Gerhaher is often so inside the character that each phrase feels loaded with meaning without sounding overloaded…The biggest dividend to Gerhaher's approach is any number of moments where you feel part of the protagonist's thought process, as he hatches ideas on the spot. How often does that happen?" Gramophone
"The outstanding lieder singer of his generation has consolidated his position: the voice may sound more mature, but he conveys the youth of the despairing apprentice, in love with the fickle Fair Maid of the Mill, through artistry and vocal inflections as much as through the tone and colour of his voice, his eloquent diction matchless among contemporary singers." Sunday Times