Schubert: Winterreise

COMPOSERS: Schubert
LABELS: Philips
WORKS: Winterreise
PERFORMER: Peter Schreier (tenor) Sviatoslav Richter (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 442 360-2 DDD (1985)

Hard on the heels of both Schreier’s latest Winterreise with András Schiff, and the Sviatoslav Richter celebratory box, the Schreier/Richter Winterreise of 1985 returns in its full glory. Nothing, but nothing comes near the level of inspiration and concentration in this live, winter recording. It has extraordinary presence (down to the battery of graveyard coughs in the background) and, behind the desperation and raw horror which are so peculiarly Schreier’s, there is a tender desolation unique to this partnership and, as in so much of Richter’s Schubert, a sense of music existing outside time itself. Hilary Finch