A revelatory reissue, this, not least for its three Strauss orchestral songs, conducted by the composer himself. Both Heimliche Aufforderung and Standchen are remarkable for their lightness of touch: in the former, Patzak sings as youthful hero, reluctant to dwell on affective detail which Strauss's own harmonic placing provides anyway; the latter seems to be sung in one warm breath, barely separable from the whirring, almost tactile orchestral detail. Even in Morgen, the voice steps out with bold deliberation, applying near-tenuto emphasis on the opening words after the keen bite of the violin's opening impetus.
Patzak's Schubert, typically clean, ardent and highly-strung, is epitomized in a poignant, fragile Abschied, an Ungeduld whose impatience relies as much on keen anticipation and articulation as on speed, and an An die Apfelbaume, sweet with an almost cloying Viennese gemutlichkeit. Michael Raucheisen accompanies with an urgency and vividness of detail which cuts through the tendency to woodiness in the recording.'