Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Jan Kobow :: Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin

In a large field of contenders, this is second to none

Christopher Witmer | 03/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Virtuoso tenor Jan Kobow, who is also an excellent keyboardist in his own right, knows how to choose an accompanist, and here his teaming up with Kristian Bezuidenhout, playing on a replica of an 1815 fortepiano, works beautifully. One of the the great things about Jan is that in his presentation he dedicates himself totally to transparent communication of the music. When he sings Bach (at least on the Bach Collegium Japan recordings where I have heard him), he never draws attention to himself as a performer. Instead, he serves as a vehicle to transport the listener into the music. Well, he does the same thing here with Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin (The Fair Maid of the Mill). Having said that, however, this CD is nothing but a tenor voice and piano for more than one hour, so in a certain sense the spotlight is on Kobow constantly. Fortunately he has been gifted with as innately beautiful an instrument as any that you'll hear, so this recording is highly satisfying to me in terms of both its interpretation and aesthetics. If you like German lieder, you should definitely consider this and anything else this duo records in the genre (as of this writing, I believe they have just one other recording available from the same label.) One caveat -- this duo is not afraid to take some liberties, such as regarding tempo variations, ornamentation, etc. Their decisions in such matters are not purely arbitrary -- no doubt they can offer cogent reasons for whatever choices they make -- but if you bring preconceived notions of the "right" way to perform this song cycle, their approach might come as a bit of a surprise in places. At the same time, if you know this music well enough to be able to interact with it at that level, perhaps they can help you see this piece in a new light. For the rest of us, Schubert may have been the greatest master of art song composition ever, and this piece represents one of the great masterworks of the genre, so if you are not familiar with this work, this recording serves as a wonderful introduction."