»Here, alongside heady unconditionality, you can also hear ghostly sounds, the most subtle details, breath-taking filigree work.« – the Frankfurter Rundschau can hardly contain its excitement in its review of the seminal recording of Schubert’s »Die schöne Müllerin« (The Fair Maid of the Mill), which star tenor Julian Prégardien and pianoforte expert Kristian Bezuidenhout produced in 2024. With their reinterpretation of this famous song cycle, they both transform the Elbphilharmonie Recital Hall into a heart chamber of the beautiful sorrow of love.
In 20 songs, Schubert unfolds the story of a sensitive young man destroyed by a broken heart. Yet along the path to this tragic end, he offers – as a kind of compensation for the missing happy ending – an overflowing cornucopia of exquisite songcraft.
Piano and voice merge into an inseparable unit, equally contributing to the narrative’s development. What makes this performance especially exciting is not only that Bezuidenhout brings the audience closer to Schubert’s original sound world on the fortepiano – Prégardien also unveils entirely new facets of the music with his own carefully crafted ornamentations, resulting in a reading of unprecedented intensity.
PERFORMERS
Julian Prégardien tenor
Kristian Bezuidenhout Hammerklavier
PROGRAM
Franz Schubert
Die schöne Müllerin, D 795
