I'll miss the excitement of discovery I felt in reading Ian Bostridge's splendid Schubert's Winter Journey - Anatomy of an Obsession. Every chapter has fresh illuminations to offer, and not just on the song cycle itself, though the commentary on the individual songs brings each to life. I know I've become a better listener with the writer's help.
The last chapter is particularly special, dealing as it does with the most extraordinary song in the cycle, the one about the hurdy-gurdy man, Der Leiermann. It offers a plethora of insights but, more than that, conveys the weird power of the song quite brilliantly. It's fascinating for this Dylan fan-boy that Mr Bostridge makes admiring reference to the great man in relation to the song - actually trying to imagine what it would sound like with Dylan singing. I've thought for many years that Dylan is a great singer, but often seemed to be in a minority of one with regard to this claim, so it's oddly validating to have a great singer in the lieder tradition think the same way.
By the way, my assurance that the writer himself is a great singer comes not just via hearsay but from the fact that I downloaded a version of Winterreise featuring his singing, to supplement the version I was listening to previously done by Fischer-Dieskau. It compares favourably, which is really saying something.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment