Performed by Matthias Goerne (baritone) and Christoph Eschenbach (piano), Wigmore Hall's Schubert song cycle had been judged by many as a must. Tickets were sold out early on and return tickets were hard to come by. The hall was packed, with several people standing at the back during all three evenings: rightly so, even if arguments could be raised against some aspects of the performances.
Arguably the underlying tone in Schubert's music – as, indeed, in Schubert's life – is sadness. However; there is also joy, charm and humour all of which counterbalance the tragedy in Schubert's life and music. Nevertheless, the most important element of the Goerne/Eschenbach presentation was bleakness. Whether intentionally or not, this was also represented in the artists' clothes: both wore very simple and entirely black attire for all three concerts of the cycle. With Goerne standing immediately in front of (and occasionally leaning on) the black piano, the visual image of hopelessness and tragedy was powerful.
Another main feature of the artists' reading of Schubert's scores was anxiety. Although many of the poems in the three song cycles contain such elements, I am wondering if the dominance of anxiety has to do just as much with Mattthias Goerne as with some of the song texts. He was rehearsing in the hall, with full voice, until 15 minutes before the concerts started. Yet surely, with several performances and CD recordings behind him, he knows these songs very well. More often than not, during the concerts Goerne kept swaying his whole body mainly from side to side but at times also vertically. Might he keep moving because of anxiety or might he be anxious because his swaying undermines the natural balance of his body? Is Goerne anxious about the top register of his voice or does he occasionally produce less than perfect sound on the top because he lacks physical balance?
I was surprised by some contradictions in dynamics (and occasionally in tempi) between what I heard and what I saw in my score which was edited from primary sources by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. But, I hasten to add, Goerne's rendering was convincing throughout. He seemed to have lived and created all songs in all three cycles – that is, in Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise and Schwanengesang – with utter sincerity. However, in Die schöne Müllerin, Goerne did not portray the happiness, joys and naivety of the young, naïve miller. The journey of the old man without any hope (Winterreise) and Schubert's last words on the genre (Schwanengesang) were more appropriate to Goerne's anxiety-ridden, tragic reading. I must emphasize that – in the process – he produced great many breath-taking moments, exquisite beauty of sound (mostly in the lower registers) and spell-binding atmosphere. I was particularly overwhelmed as well as overjoyed by Goerne's purity of sound and his painstaking observance of Schubert’s chromatic inflections during his last performance (Schwanengesang): this was a top standard master-class in expressive intonation.
Christoph Eschenbach's realisation of the all important piano parts was a master-class in discipline, modesty, technical and musical control, attention to overall structure as well as to the tiniest details. The polyphonic nature of Schubert's piano parts has never been as clear, at least to me, as in Eschenbach's reading. The interaction between voice and piano was awesome. Matthias Goerne must have realised this, because he focused on the pianist throughout. Theirs was a superb, private dialogue: so much so, that the presence of the audience seemed to have been forgotten. I was happy to be an onlooker and, judging by audience response, so was everybody else.
The three-cycle series concluded with Eschenbach's performance of the Piano Sonata D 960, which was Schubert's last piano sonata. The piece was a fully appropriate choice to conclude this series. As in the song cycles, Eschenbach revealed aspects which elsewhere are rarely shown. His was an orchestral reading with a great many colours and exploding drama. The overall arch was clear and subtle tempo flexibilities were tightly controlled. Eschenbach performed from music and he turned pages himself, just as he would do when conducting an orchestra from score. Of course, there are many possibilities for alternative reading of this magnificent magnum opus. But Eschenbach’s interpretation is among those which should be carefully studied by all.
By Agnes Kory
Photo: Matthias Goerne by Marco Borggreve
Related articles:
CD/DVD Review: Matthias Goerne and Christoph Pregardien's recent releases of Die schöne Müllerin
Live Review: Goerne in Mahler at the 2007 Proms
Live Review: Goerne in Thomas Larcher at the QEH
CD Review Eschenbach conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in Mahler's Resurrection Symphony