Schubert: Die Winterreise (arr. Normand Forget)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Winterreise, op.89 D911 Christophe Prégardien, tenor; Jospeh Petric, accordion

'Winterreise' as you might have imagined it, revealing aspects of the score you may never had heard. In this recording, the colours inherent in Schubert's piano score grow naturally into the unique combination of Pentaedre's winds and Joseph Petric's accordion, and the expressiveness of Schubert's melodies provide a perfect vehicle for Christoph Prégardien's mature artistry. Christoph Prégardien is one of the world's foremost lyric tenors. Best-known for his performances of Mozart, Bach and earlier composers, Prégardien has nonetheless a long relationship with Schubert's great masterpieces. The wind quintet Pentaèdre bring impeccable musicianship and a sense of theatricality to re-imaginings of great classics. Their most recent ATMA recording (ACD22545) presented Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" as a wordless opera for mimes. Joseph Petric has made stretching perception s of the accordion his life's work, not only with virtuoso performances of works borrowed from other instruments, but with a long list of commissions for new works from today's great composers. 'Winterreise' is an integrated cycle of 24 songs on poems by Wilhelm Müller, written only a year before Schubert's death at a very young age (and during the same years as the young poet Müller's death), and reflecting a huge emotional range. This new version of the work, colouring the accompaniment with hues of the wood quintet and accordion, all the while remaining faithful to the original text, unhitches it from its era and makes it nearly a work of today. The old hurdy-gurdy player with his frozen fingers appears even more human and touching to us and the rushing of the stream, the whispering of the wind and the rustling of the linden ring even truer.

Price: $20.98