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3.4
Winterreise
Nathaniel Watson, baritone; Michael McMahon, piano
Leaf music, 2022
Written in the year preceding his death, Winterreise is a monumental work in Franz Schubert’s oeuvre. The cycle of 24 lieder that sets into music a series of poems by Wilhelm Müller never ceases to be recorded, a recent addition being this one out on the Canadian label Leaf Music. What stands out in this version is the impeccable German diction of baritone Nathaniel Watson. His rapport with the songs seems so intimate that he makes you want to rediscover them again. The label’s attention to sound quality is also worth noting, the definition of the piano in particular. When listening to Michael McMahon’s accompaniments, you sense his total understanding of the music, and his ability to draw out every nuance—from the gentlest sigh to peaks of dramatic intensity— is more than commendable. Yet, there lacks some freshness in the voice, the vibrato overemphasized to the point of weighing down the music. In faster passages, which require added virtuosity, it would have been nice to hear the notes more clearly articulated. Another quibble is the audible sound of a page being turned, something this writer has never encountered before. A better editing process certainly could have removed this blemish as well as a few more extraneous sounds creeping in here and there.
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Francais (French)
