Franz Schubert: Winterreise (2003)

According to Fanfare, the magazine for serious collectors, "if you want a tenor Winterreise, seek no further" than this 1990 recording by tenor Zeger Vandersteene and pianist Levnete Kende. Maybe: if you sought further, you might find recordings of Winterreise by tenors Ian Bostridge or Jon Vickers or especially Peter Schreier, all of which are among the most affecting, terrifying, and excruciating recordings of the work ever made. While Vandersteene is a fine tenor with a capable technique and a warm voice, his Winterreise ... Read More

According to Fanfare, the magazine for serious collectors, "if you want a tenor Winterreise, seek no further" than this 1990 recording by tenor Zeger Vandersteene and pianist Levnete Kende. Maybe: if you sought further, you might find recordings of Winterreise by tenors Ian Bostridge or Jon Vickers or especially Peter Schreier, all of which are among the most affecting, terrifying, and excruciating recordings of the work ever made. While Vandersteene is a fine tenor with a capable technique and a warm voice, his Winterreise is not in that exalted company. The depths of pain, the abyss of loneliness, the horror of madness -- these qualities are only hinted at in Vandersteene's interpretation. This is not to say that Vandersteene's performance lacks merit: his lyrical phrasing and graceful glissando accomplish wonderful things in the less intense and harrowing songs of the cycle. But when the big moments come and especially when the cycle reaches its closing songs, Vandersteene is not quite up to the... Read Less