| Label: Wigmore Hall Catalog: WHLIVE0046 Format: CD Christopher Maltman, baritone; Graham Johnson, pianoFranz Schubert Die Winterreise "....Maltman's ardent, impulsive, intensely "lived" performance, partnered and inspired by the everilluminating Johnson, should be heard by anyone who loves the cycle." So wrote Richard Wigmore in Gramophone Magazine of Christopher Maltman's Die Schöne Müllerin. Released in April 2011, this was the first release of his complete Schubert song cycles project and was awarded an Editor's Choice. Recorded over a series of live dates, Maltman has collaborated with one of the world's foremost authorities on the lieder repertoire, accompanist Graham Johnson. Maltman's teaming with Johnson is a triumphant partnership with Maltman giving the accolade that he is the "definitive accompanist who leaves no stone unturned". Die Winterreise will be followed by Schwanengesang in 2012, the live performance of which was critically-applauded. Maltman's decision to undertake these substantial recordings as a live project was a considered choice: "the live recording experience is where the real beauty lies; the little points, the little imperfections, the emotional stress, give the performance an organic feel, a rawness. It dials everything back to the most important element - the live performance." |