Winter travel
The "Winterreise", both in its original version and adapted for piano, violin and cello: an embarrassment of riches between sublime recordings.
Daniel Behle is a German tenor of the younger generation, with a career in full bloom; his voice is ideal for classical and German Romantic lieder, while giving him access to lyric parts right through to Wagner and Strauss. His rather clear but warm timbre remains absolutely light in the upper register, and his perfect diction imposes his understanding of the texts on the listener; he thus leaves no doubt as to the juiciness of a new recording of the Winterreise. His uncluttered version, devoid of sentimentality, allows the multi-layered listening that Schubert deserves.
The double CD presents the original version with the excellent Oliver Schnyder at the piano, as well as an adaptation adding violin and cello, written by Daniel Behle himself. Purists are reassured straight away: the string version is done with great decency and taste, without overloading the accompaniment or covering the voice, which remains at the center of the work at all times. The strings are used very sparingly, adding only here and there a few touches of color or highlighting the piano lines, so there's no impression of a complete re-reading of the work, as in Hans Zender's orchestral version. Paradoxically, the need to adjust the balance of the four musicians at the time of recording even resulted in a voice that is even more present and well highlighted, as well as a piano that is much more transparent than in the original version; comparing the two, the listener might well prefer the version with trio.
Franz Schubert: Winterreise(n). Version for Tenor and Piano Trio & Original Version. Daniel Behle, Tenor; Oliver Schnyder, Klavier; Andreas Janke, Violin; Benjamin Nyffenegger, Cello. Sony classical 88883788232
