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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
A quite wonderful performance. I've heard countless Winterreises over the years, but this has got to rate very high indeed on the list of top performances, if not at the very summit. Padmore is a virtually ideal interpreter - a tenor whose German is good, who sings all the songs in the keys Schubert originally intended (it DOES matter ultimately, I think), and who strikes an ideal balance between evenness of musical line and the need to shape the text, to involve the listener in the story. This he does with incredible vividness, but entirely without gimmickry or special pleading. Padmore's is genuinely selfless artistry totally serving the composer, of a kind rarely encountered.
He is fortunate to have a superlative accompanist in Paul Lewis, whose playing perfectly complements Padmore's singing, and never looks to hog the limelight with obtrusive point-making. That said, Lewis constantly illuminates the extraordinary harmonic and textural daring of Schubert's keyboard writing, and weights the thrumming chords in "Der Leiermann" in a way I have never heard before, to eerie and unsettling effect.
I have no hesitation in calling this a truly great performance, and would strongly recommend it to all lovers of Schubert's music. The recorded quality is excellent.
He is fortunate to have a superlative accompanist in Paul Lewis, whose playing perfectly complements Padmore's singing, and never looks to hog the limelight with obtrusive point-making. That said, Lewis constantly illuminates the extraordinary harmonic and textural daring of Schubert's keyboard writing, and weights the thrumming chords in "Der Leiermann" in a way I have never heard before, to eerie and unsettling effect.
I have no hesitation in calling this a truly great performance, and would strongly recommend it to all lovers of Schubert's music. The recorded quality is excellent.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Not long ago, there were apprehensions about how to develop the art of lieder singing further, due to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's sublime mastership, hard to surpass and elaborate. Nowadays there seem to be many new paths to tread in order to transcend the borderline without denying the Master's supremacy and to make it new and different. When Mark Padmore and Paul Lewis take hold of such a fundamental piece as Schubert's Die Winterreise, probably the foremost song-cycle ever composed, they do so with an overwhelming authority and on a level that is stunningly high from the beginning and still augmenting the musical intensity to the bitter and very melancholy end without losing any artistic detail.
There is a perfect balance between Padmore's light and sensationally expressive voice and Lewis's congenial piano playing. A balance, but also a certain tension that increases the dramatical character. Normally, the singing dominates the piano in song-cycles like these, but here you find an absolute equality and a regular alterations of accents. As a matter of fact, you can listen to many of the piano parts here as a suite of exquisite piano pieces, accompanied by a melodious song voice, and enjoy the cycle that way, so beautifully as it is executed by Paul Lewis. Though as a rule there is a convincing interplay, a rarely fine teamwork, enhancing the emotional effect of these heart-rending songs.
For this is romance singing as drama! From the bitter-sweet memories over the alienation of the wandering to the dark, sorrowful ending. Listen to the shrill horror-stricken timbre of Mark Padmore's voice in songs like "Die Krähe" or "Letzte Hoffnung" or the breathless sighing tone in the last songs! First time I listened to the record, it was impossible to stop until the last one, "Der Leierman", was over and with that the whole drama. It had been a sacrilege to interrupt the emotional spell of the recording.
So finally, I have to use Schubert adequate German words to express my appraisal: vollendet! wunderbar!
There is a perfect balance between Padmore's light and sensationally expressive voice and Lewis's congenial piano playing. A balance, but also a certain tension that increases the dramatical character. Normally, the singing dominates the piano in song-cycles like these, but here you find an absolute equality and a regular alterations of accents. As a matter of fact, you can listen to many of the piano parts here as a suite of exquisite piano pieces, accompanied by a melodious song voice, and enjoy the cycle that way, so beautifully as it is executed by Paul Lewis. Though as a rule there is a convincing interplay, a rarely fine teamwork, enhancing the emotional effect of these heart-rending songs.
For this is romance singing as drama! From the bitter-sweet memories over the alienation of the wandering to the dark, sorrowful ending. Listen to the shrill horror-stricken timbre of Mark Padmore's voice in songs like "Die Krähe" or "Letzte Hoffnung" or the breathless sighing tone in the last songs! First time I listened to the record, it was impossible to stop until the last one, "Der Leierman", was over and with that the whole drama. It had been a sacrilege to interrupt the emotional spell of the recording.
So finally, I have to use Schubert adequate German words to express my appraisal: vollendet! wunderbar!
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The combination of a great singer and pianist coming together is mesmeric. This interpretation is about 'less is more' - Padmore's voice and Lewis' piano rarely rise above piano but when they do the effect is all the more telling. This is absolutely rivetting - as fine a Winterreise as I have ever heard. Just listen to the build-up and then the strange sense of numbness and emptiness when the organ grinder finally steps into the last song. Obviously there is no such thing as a definitive Winterreise but this is up there with the very best.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
cd Mark Padmore Winterreise
personal email response, like it used to be buying in a neighborhood shop. Sent immediately to France- price 50% less
Published 5 months ago by Edward S; Ross, Jr
Padmore
Oh God,Mark Padmore singing "Winterreise" ... what to do now?
One of my favorite classical singers recording a piece I always find difficult and gloomy - but critics had... Read more
One of my favorite classical singers recording a piece I always find difficult and gloomy - but critics had... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Sasha
A supremely beautiful and poignant Winterreise
Winterreise is one of those song cycles where you can search a long while for your perfect interpretation. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Geoffers
Definitive Winterreise
This is one of the all time great renditions of Die Winterreise. I have not the time to go into details. Just buy it; you won't regret it.
Published 19 months ago by R. McEvoy
what a supris
As a big fan of Lewis, especially his SUPER Beethoven sonata renditions and a lover of this work I bought this with a little apprehension none the less. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2010 by CD O'NEIL
Disc of the week
I heard part of this CD on BBC Radio 3, where it was "disc of the week" on the Saturday morning programme. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2010 by M. Hesketh
A Winterreise that avoids extremes
I admire the piano playing, and although Padmore's light tenor doesn't have a wide range of colour, his sensitive singing and musicianship convey pathos and even, intermittently,... Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2009 by Bella
Woderful byond words ...
No need to say much. I have five other recordings of this work and have heard numerous others.
This, quite simply, is the finest imaginable performance of one of the... Read more
This, quite simply, is the finest imaginable performance of one of the... Read more
Published on 11 Dec 2009 by John R. Sharp
What a fake
This is one of the worst bits of singing I've heard for a long time. The voice does quite well in Padmore's usual very light singing with no vibrato. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2009 by Mazabrard
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