“A Schubertiade is an event held to celebrate the music of Franz Schubert”. In our time often a formal concert or a festival devoted to the music of Schubert. In Schubert’s life time, however, they were private, informal gatherings or ‘soirées’ of art-loving friends focusing on Schubert’s music and contemporary poetry. It was, at the same time, an escape from an authoritarian regime, where participants could freely exchange thoughts ‘among equals’. A safe haven for intellectuals, one might say.

Such is the background of Julian Prégardien’s sophisticated project as presented on this disk: Born from a combination of research into Schubert’s personal life, with its ups and many downs, and an unusual, but perfectly befitting musical setting. The result is an exquisite amalgamation of literature and music destined for the discerning art & music lover.

Not all art is open to interpretation. Some, like paintings or sculptures, are end results. Music and poetry (and theatre, for that matter) need an interpreter and it is clear that the better the interpreter the better the artistic creation can be conveyed. Myrios does not disappoint. The instrumental soloists rallied around the vocal and poetical recite of Julian Prégardien are of the highest order, as we have, by now, come to expect from this young and qualitative superior label.

For those who wonder: Yes, Julian is the son of Christoph and his voice is at least as good as his father’s. And not only that, he covers the field from Oratorio and Opera to Lieder, which is an extraordinary feature. Listening to father and son next to one another it becomes clear that Julian’s voice has the attraction of youthful power. A bright future lies ahead and one may wonder to what extent he will continue in all these directions or specialize over the years one way or the other.

Whatever the answer, here he brings us with Marc Hantaï (flute), Xavier Diaz-Latorre (guitar) and Philippe Pierlot (bariton, a kind of bass viol with six or seven strings), all on historical instruments or copies thereof, an anthology of Schubert Lieder (with some exceptions), arranged for these instruments and complemented with appropriate poetry in accordance with Prégardien’s imagination of what could have been a Schubertiade in the first half of the 19th century.

As all the spoken texts are in German, the liner notes come to the rescue with translations in English and French. But I would urge you to carefully listen to Prégardien’s recite in such beautiful and well-articulated German as one comes rarely across in day to day life, thus lifting text to the level of music.

Another winner from Myrios.

Blangy le Château,
Normandy, France

Copyright © 2015 Adrian Quanjer and HRAudio.net

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