SCHUBERT. Winterreise, D.911. Hans Hotter (baritone),ErikWerba (piano).

DGG Q LPM18778-9 : 0 SLPM 138778-9 (two 12 in., 64s. 6d. plus 10s. 6d. P.T.).

SCHUBERT. Winterreise, D.911. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Gerald Moore (piano). HMV Q ALPS2001, ALP2002: Q ASDS551, ASD552 (three 12 in. sides, 53s. 6id. plus 8s. 8d. P.T.).

SCHUBERT. Winterreise, D.911 (AL3428-9: SAL3428-9). Schwanengesang, D.957—eight songs (AL3429: SAL3429). Gerard Souzay (baritone), Dalton Baldwin (piano). Philips Q AL3428-9: 0 SAL3428-9 (two 12 in., 64s. 6d. plus 10s. 6d. P.T.).

Schwanengesang — eight songs : Liebesbotschaf t ; Krieger's Ahnung; Friihlingssehnsucht ; Abschied; Der Atlas; Ihr Bild; Das Fischermadchen; Die Taubenpost.

Fischer-Dieskau (11/55) CD AL P1298-9

It is now over eight years since Hans Hotter's second recording of Winterreise, with Gerald Moore, was issued: it has since been deleted. I wrote my review in March 1955, as snow was falling and should have felt no surprise had I seen the solitary figure of the lonely lover making his weary way across the wintry landscape on which my windows looked. This is an indication of how Hotter's interpretation moved me, of how right was its atmosphere. In

November of the same year the FischerDieskau/Moore recording came out and after making a close comparison I found myself preferring Hotter's simpler approach in spite of some drastic downward transpositions of keys, duly noted on the disc sleeves, and Fischer-Dieskau's more eventoned voice, crisper articulation and special sense of word values. At this time FischerDieskau sometimes disturbed the vocal lines with point making or over-dramatization in some songs—as, for example, at the end of "Letzte Hoffnung", though not in "Die Krahe", which was exactly right. Nevertheless Fischer-Dieskau gave a splendid interpretation and Gerald Moore played even more superbly than before. The picture Hotter presented was of an utterly disillusioned man while FischerDieskau gave one the impression of a man who, though disillusioned, still had it in him to snap his fingers at fate.

Hotter, in his first recording, ended "Der Leiermann" softly, but in the present recording he, as Fischer-Dieskau did, sings the last phrase with a crescendo to forte. The piano part alone has dynamic markings in Schubert's songs so one can take the forte as applying only to the piano part. Hotter's interpretation, in general, has not changed. Time has taken its toll of his voice and his soft tones are less well supported, but his singing of the great work remains deeply moving: it is the singing of a great artist—and every now and then the old splendour of tone returns to his voice. At other times one is a little conscious of the need for care. The peace of "Der Lindenbaum", the fine emotional climax of "Auf dem Flusse", the vigour of "Rackblick", the bitter enunciation of "Wurm" at its repetition in "Rast", the restrained grief of "Letzte Hoffnung", the chill feel of death in "Der Wegweiser", these are just a few of the many fine things in his interpretation. He has the advantage, of course, of a better recording of the piano, a better balance between voice and piano, and a better acoustic, but, I am bound to say, he has not Gerald Moore. Erik Werba is a most experienced and able accompanist, and works in close co-operation with the singer, but I miss in his playing Gerald Moore's penetrating sense of poetry. One has only to compare the two performances of "Der Lindenbaum"—the treble notes after the triplet figures, or the representation of the hurdy-gurdy played by frozen fingers in "Der Leiermann", to hear the difference.

I don't want to stress the difference. The point is that we have here the desire fulfilled of a great singer to record again a very moving and deeply felt testimony of his art. DGG have done him proud in producing a booklet with notes on the two artists and on the song-cycle, in three languages, pictures of Schubert and Muller, and of a Schubertiad—a well-known one— and a separate booklet with the German and English words. I am very glad to find this careful tribute paid to Hans Hotter.

He has now recorded Winterreise three times—his first set, with Michael Raucheisen (Polydor) was not issued here either on 78s or later on LP—FischerDieskau and Souzay have recorded the work twice. Fischer-Dieskau's interpretation remains the most dramatic of all, but he has now refined it, made it more searching and eliminated unnecessary verbal point making: and whereas Hotter and Souzay make a movingly pathetic figure of the solitary wanderer, Fischer-Dieskau makes him tragic. It seems to be the general view that the wanderer either becomes insane before the end of the work or at least is going that way in the last song. I cannot accept this in such downright terms. He certainly becomes increasingly turned in on himself, which is a primary condition of certain forms of insanity, but the point of "Der Leiermann" has always seemed to me that finding a companion as lonely and wretched as himself he thinks at last of someone other than himself, someone with whom to make music. I still prefer that the hurdy-gurdy man's joy, expressed in the piano part, forte, crescendo, should not be matched in the vocal part. I feel that the deeply wounded and weary wanderer is making a tentative approach to the old man, hoping it will be accepted. Therefore I prefer Souzay's soft ending.

Souzay's first recording with Dalton Baldwin (HMV) was prejudiced by the poor balance between voice and piano. The voice is still rather too forward : but, in the stereo version especially, there is a more natural balance between the two artists. I did, however, feel that the piano tone was consistently too bright and too little varied. One hardly ever hears the pianissimo one gets on the new HMV disc. It is difficult to apportion the blame as between artist and recording, but Mr. Baldwin seems very reluctant to use the soft pedal, and so does not give by the use of it, or, as can be done, without it, the muted sounds so many of the songs demand and get from Mr. Moore. This is immediately apparent in "Gute Nacht", the first song in the cycle. Mr. Baldwin plays with musicianly feeling and phrasing, as I said in my 1959 review of the HMV issue by these artists, but he simply does not have Gerald Moore's wonderful gift for at once evoking the atmosphere of each song. He comes nearest to it in the songs in quick tempo, and it is only fair to say he does approach it in, for example, "Der Wegweiser" and "Das Wirtshaus", and his light touch in "Thuschung" is exactly right. As often with Erik Werba, in the Hotter recording, the imaginative touches in Schubert's scene painting are insufficiently realized, as for example the piano parts of "Letzte Hoffnung" and "Im Dorfe".

It may grow tiresome to keep on saying this, but comparing the three pianists involved it is clear that Gerald Moore is without peer, and will remain so until we have the Pears-Britten recording of Winterret se. Whatever the result of comparisons then Mr. Moore gives us now his finest achievement, and though it may be equalled it will not be surpassed.

Souzay's performance is consistent throughout with his conception of the wanderer as an infinitely pathetic figure. Less generously endowed vocally than Fischer-Dieskau—his mezza-voce is sometimes tenuous, his climactic high notes throaty—he makes the most of his beautiful voice, and offers variety of tone and many fine points of nuance, and at all times a complete identification with his role. I do not propose to submit the three artists, even if space permitted, to a competitive examination, song by song! The merits of all of them are very well known and there is not only one way to interpret the great work.

I feel sorry that Souzay is not better served by the recording. It is best in stereo, even though the separation of voice and piano is a little overdone, and the best results, on my equipment, were achieved by a considerable reduction of volume and some top-cut. It is again bad luck for Souzay that two other recordings of Schwanengesang should have been issued during the last two months. The FischerDieskau/Moore performance and recording were superlatively good. Souzay has made a selection and is particularly good in a dramatic and deeply felt rendering of "Krieger's Ahnung", "Die Taubenpost", in which Dalton Baldwin gives a lilting accompaniment similar to Gerald Moore's, and "Abschied"—the latter less cynical than Hermann Prey's interpretation, but a charming picture of the young Don Juan all the same. Mr. Baldwin avoids the thumping accompaniment of Walter Klein in "Der Atlas" in Prey's recording, but this is not a song, I feel, for Souzay.

There are German-English texts provided for the Souzay and Fischer-Dieskau issues although not with such an elaborate pamphlet as for Hotter.

There I must leave what has been an absorbing task, one about which a great deal more could be said, but which enough has, I hope, been said to enable readers to make up their minds about which version they will go for. Ideally one would like all three: for the magic and fascination of Winterreise is unending and, in the case of the Souzay/Baldwin issue, the great music can survive the criticisms I have had to make of the pianist and the recording.

A.R.