Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No. 1-3

Martha Argerich, piano
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor



Samuel Barber
Orchestral Works and Concertos
Leonard Slatkin, Charles Munch



Rimsky-Korsakov
Evgeny Svetlanov


Beethoven
Symphony No.9
Piano Transcription by Franz Liszt
Konstantin Scherbakov, Piano



Kronos Caravan

At the end of Schubert’s Winterreise, the wanderer-protagonist encounters an old organ-grinder tottering barefoot on a sheet of ice.  Ignored by everyone except dogs who growl at him, the musician keeps playing, an outsider grimly carrying on in a bleak, uncaring world.  The wanderer feels inexplicably drawn to him and asks if the man will accompany his songs.

The song, “Der Leiermann,” is a poignant coda to Schubert’s haunting song cycle and encapsulates many of its interpretive challenges.  Throughout the 24 songs, the narrator must contrast world-weariness and resignation with angry flashes of defiance, as if he is battling fate.  It is an assignment handled somewhat differently by Hermann Prey and Andreas Schmidt in these estimable recordings.

Prey, one of the great lied artists of the past 50 years, is heard in a live 1978 performance that captures his lyric baritone near the height of his powers.  His slow, almost hesitant singing in “Der Leirmann” conveys an air of uncertainty about the hurdy-gurdy man and the musician’s strange pull on the narrator.  Schmidt is more dispassionate in his delivery, as if he was almost preordained to follow.

In “Fruhlingstraum,” Prey rhapsodizes sweetly about blooming flowers, meadows and bird calls, his lilting phrases implying a certain confusion about what he is to make of this sensory feast.  Schmidt is lyrical and sensitive taking in the scene, but strikes out in more dramatic, lashing lines when he is shaken out of his reverie.  The approach works fine, yet is not particularly memorable.

Pianist and singer must work as one in this song cycle, and Prey is helped immensely by the excellent accompanist Irwin Gage.  The two conjure a melancholy picture of the narrator’s favorite linden tree in “Der Lindenbaum,” its rustling branches urging the wanderer to come and find peace.  Schmidt’s collaborator, Rudolf Jansen, is also sensitive to the songs’ musical architecture, though at times seems a bit eager to heighten dynamic contrasts and milk pauses to great effect.

If there is one complaint, it is that both singers are so at home in this idiom that their warm, rich baritones sometimes make one forget the inner anguish the narrator must be feeling.  Some might also find Prey’s voice a tad monochromatic.  Schubert wrote this cycle with a tenor in mind, and a recent release by Ian Bostridge demonstated how a plaintive, higher-pitched voice can be used to great effect in this material.  Still, it’s hard to quibble with self-assured interpretations such as these that offer earnest and mature takes on life’s journey.

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