In the vast Schubert lieder discography, one looks to Fritz Wunderlich for mystique, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau for authority and Ian Bostridge for ubiquity (and the convenient access that comes with it). But Christoph Prégardien’s repackaged set with the three major song-cycles (recorded between 2007 and 2012) is my desert-island choice for a highly cultivated yet quite personal tenor-voice foray into Schubert’s world.

Though the widely recorded Winterreise attracts big-opera voices, Prégardien has a lyric, medium-weight voice – much cleaner than Jonas Kaufmann (Sony, 5/14) but more colourful than some historically informed performance voices – plus a distinctively communicative fluency. Prégardien’s ease with the language is immediately palpable here – perhaps even more so than his in-person recitals, thanks partly to the rich, resonant recording acoustic. He also sings in complete poetic thoughts in ways that naturally reveal how ingeniously Schubert’s musical invention supports the text at hand.

While Peter Pears (Decca, 7/65) projects deep humanity through vocal amplitude and Bostridge (EMI/Warner, 9/04) uses meticulous enunciation as an emotional conduit, Prégardien and pianist Gees maintain an emotionally vibrant but somewhat dry-eyed balance of musico-dramatic elements, starting with a healthy pulse, even as Winterreise’s existential hero trudges into the snow. Continuity is further enhanced as Prégardien makes each strophic stanza a distinct chapter in the larger narrative, sometimes bending tempos with taste and purpose – allowing leeway for distinctive insights. In his receptive review of the recording’s original release, Richard Wigmore validated Prégardien’s singular view that the hallucinatory organ-grinder of ‘Der Leiermann’ is a welcome new partner, ‘though it’s worth remembering … that the composer saw the organ-grinder as a terrifying portent of what he himself might become in later life’.

In Schwanengesang, any tenor is tested by the weighty ‘Der Atlas’: Prégardien’s baritonal colours convey the lied’s anguished weariness with Staier (on fortepiano) supplying more incisive statements. In the beloved ‘Ständchen’, though, I prefer Bostridge’s more lingering tempo (clocking in at 3'59" – Warner, 6/09) than Prégardien’s less sentimental take (3'20"). Textually, the two usual sets of Schwanengesang lieder are framed by ‘Herbst’, D945, and ‘Die Taubenpost’, D965a, plus six extra Seidl songs written two years earlier (1826), though even Prégardien’s artistry doesn’t elevate them to Schubert’s best.

With its stronger vernacular roots, Die schöne Müllerin (with Gees on piano) has Prégardien’s voice handily fitting into lieder that cramp more operatic voices. He also adds vocal ornaments that fit naturally, even magically, into the music’s fabric. Vocal lines spring to life anew; words shine with fresh characterisation. Most important, Prégardien’s tone never suggests this is a guided tour from a star tenor: consistently, he conveys the cycle’s essential sense of wounded youth.