[Cover graphic]

Compact Disc CDJ33037

£13.99


The glories of this final disc in the Hyperion Schubert Edition are hard to over-praise. Three tenors sing 20 songs from 1828, the last year of Schubert's short life. The programme starts with Auf dem Strom (On the River) sung by German/Canadian Michael Schade, with horn obbligato superbly played by David Pyatt. This is followed by Herbst, the two unrecorded Refrainlieder and a fragment, Lebensmut. Then follows Schwanengesang sung by two tenors: John Mark Ainsley sings the Rellstab settings (including a wondrous Ständchen and a heartrending In der Ferne), and Anthony Rolfe Johnson sings the Heine ones (including a hair-raising Doppelgänger) and, at the end, Die Taubenpost, Schubert's last song. The two halves of Schwanengesang are separated by Glaube, Hoffnung und Liebe (Faith, Hope and Love) sung by all three tenors.


Recorded on 26 27 March and 8 9 June 1998, and 30 September 1999
Recording Engineers
ANTONY HOWELL
JULIAN MILLARD
Recording Producer
MARK BROWN
Cover Design
TERRY SHANNON
Booklet Editor
TIM PARRY
Photography
MALCOLM CROWTHERS
Executive Producers
EDWARD PERRY
SIMON PERRY
Production Assistant
LUCY HAYWARD-WARBURTON
© Hyperion Records Ltd, London, MM

Duration: 79'30
DDD
Front photograph: Graham Johnson at Franz Schubert's first grave in the cemetary at Währing - today the Schubert Park in Vienna's 18th district. Photograph by Malcolm Crowthers

The Hyperion Schubert Edition - 37

The Final Year

JOHN MARK AINSLEY tenor
ANTHONY ROLFE JOHNSON tenor
MICHAEL SCHADE tenor
GRAHAM JOHNSON piano

with DAVID PYATT French horn


Contents:

  1. Auf dem Strom D943 (Rellstab) MS (with David Pyatt) [9'18]
  2. Herbst D945 (Rellstab) JMA [3'21]
  3. Bei dir allein! D866 No 2 (Seidl) MS [2'14]
  4. Irdisches Glück D866 No 4 (Seidl) MS [4'10]
  5. Lebensmut D937 (Rellstab) MS [1'58]

    SCHWANENGESANG Part 1 (Rellstab) JMA

  6. Liebesbotschaft D957 No 1 [2'55]
  7. Kriegers Ahnung D957 No 2 [5'16]
  8. Frühlingssehnsucht D957 No 3 [3'53]
  9. Ständchen D957 No 4 [4'03]
  10. Aufenthalt D957 No 5 [3'35]
  11. In der Ferne D957 No 6 [6'04]
  12. Abschied D957 No 7 [4'48]

  13. Glaube, Hoffnung und Liebe D955 (Kuffner) JMA ARJ MS [4'59]

    SCHWANENGESANG Part 2 (Heine) ARJ

  14. Der Atlas D957 No 8 [2'13]
  15. Ihr Bild D957 No 9 [2'53]
  16. Das Fischermädchen D957 No 10 [2'27]
  17. Die Stadt D957 No 11 [2'51]
  18. Am Meer D957 No 12 [3'56]
  19. Der Doppelgänger D957 No 13 [3'41]

  20. Die Taubenpost D965A (formerly D957 No 14) (Seidl) ARJ [3'34]
Sleeve Notes
Song Commentaries


GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE
CRITIC'S CHOICE, FONOFORUM,GERMANY
ECHO KLASSIC 2000 AWARD, GERMANY
PREIS DER DEUTSCHEN SCHALLPLATTENKRITIK


'John Mark Ainsley sings the Rellstab songs with finesse, sensitive phrasing and great expression. In all, a magnificent achievement. Hats off to Schubert – and to Graham Johnson' (The Singer)

'This is an exquisite envoi to one of the great enterprises of recording history. Thank you, Graham Johnson, thank you, Hyperion and thank you, Franz Schubert' (International Record Review)

'This is an awesome achievement, a must for all Schubertians' (Sunday Times 'Record of the Week’)

'A thrilling finale. Few series of recordings so richly repay detailed study, and no disc from it more than this culminating issue'(The Guardian 'Classical CD of the Week’)

'A glorious conclusion to this magisterial edition' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Flawlessly performed'(Daily Express)

'A consistent joy'(Hi-Fi News, Record of the Month A:1*)

'Ainsley interprets his songs with the tonal beauty, fine-grained phrasing and care for words that are the hallmarks of his appreciable art … All in all, a worthy, inspired conclusion to the Edition…faultless throughout' (Gramophone)

'Riches galore – subtle, simple, dramatic, profound, and often all at once' (Classic FM Magazine 'Record of the Month’)

Independent on Sunday 'Disc of the Week’

'It’s execution remains as glorious as its conception, and sets a standard that will never, in all likelihood, be surpassed' (The Capital Times, USA)

'One of the most important and handsome undertakings in the century-old history of recorded music' (The Spectator)

'One of the monuments of recording history' (Wall Street Journal)

'One of the great achievements of recording history' (BBC Music Magazine)

'One of the most important achievements in the history of recording' (International Record Review)

'Clearly established as one of the finest achievements in the history of recording' (Sydney Morning Herald, Australia)

'A magnificent project' (BBC Music Magazine)


See also:
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 1 - Goethe and Schiller settings
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 2 - Schubert's Water Songs
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 3 - Schubert and his Friends (I)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 4 - Schubert and his Friends (II)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 5 - Schubert and the Countryside
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 6 - Schubert and the Nocturne (I)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 7 - Schubert in 1815 (I)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 8 - Schubert and the Nocturne (II)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 9 - Schubert and the Theatre
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 10 - Schubert in 1815 (II)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 11 - Schubert and Death
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 12 - The Young Schubert (I)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 13 - Lieder Sacred and Profane
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 14 - Schubert and the Classics
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 15 - Schubert and the Nocturne (III)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 16 - Schiller settings
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 17 - Schubert in 1816
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 18 - Schubert and the Strophic Song
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 19 - Songs about flowers and nature
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 20 - An 1815 Schubertiad (I)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 21 - Schubert, 1817-1818
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 22 - An 1815 Schubertiad (II)
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 23 - Songs of 1816
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 24 - A Goethe Schubertiad
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 25 - Die schöne Müllerin
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 26 - An 1826 Schubertiad
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 27 - Schubert and the Schlegels
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 28 - An 1822 Schubertiad
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 29 - Schubert in 1819 and 1820
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 30 - Winterreise
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 31 - Schubert and Religion
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 32 - An 1816 Schubertiad
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 33 - The Young Schubert
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 34 - Schubert, 1817-1821
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 35 - Schubert, 1822-1825
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol 36 - Schubert in 1827
Schubert: The Complete Songs
Songs by Schubert's Friends and Contemporaries
The Hyperion Schubert Edition: 'A Voyage of Discovery'

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