Julian Prégardien - Zender/Schubert's Winterreise

The Guardian 80

Prégardien/Deutsche Radio Philharmonie/Reimer
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It starts out of almost nothing: the sound of snow crunching under trudging feet – a brush scraping across a drum. Gradually, the rhythm takes on other sonorities: the tap of wood against violin strings; a sharp puff of breath down a wind instrument. The sounds coalesce into pitches – and then there we are, immersed already in the world of Schubert’s 1827 song cycle Winterreise. It’s as if the first phrase of music has formed itself out of the act of walking.

Hans Zender’s 1993 work is a “composed interpretation” of Schubert, intended to be seen as well as heard, and it has been staged several times – Ian Bostridge and director Netia Jones brought their touring production to the Barbican two years ago. But here it’s a fascinating experience in audio alone, thanks to a tensely atmospheric performance by German tenor Julian Prégardien and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, conducted by Robert Reimer and recorded live in Saarbrücken. There is only one other recording currently widely available – and that was made nearly 20 years ago by Prégardien’s father, Christoph.