Were there not a core of much-valued versions already available, this one would do very nicely as a general recommendation to represent the cycle in any respectable collection of Lieder. Its virtues are not far to seek. Thomas Allen's well-known skills are here distributed generously and cogently throughout a seamlessly sung reading that makes all its points sincerely, without undue fuss and with an enviable command of vocal techniques as adumbrated in a faultless legato, firm, steady, warm tone and consistently thought-through phrasing. Allen traces the unhappy wanderer's path unerringly from the sorrow and distress of the early songs through the dream-haunted central ones to the hallucinations of those extraordinary pieces that end the cycle.
His is an impressive and often moving achievement as heard, for instance, in the dreamy mezza voce of ''Fruhlingstraum'', the fierce defiance of ''Mut'', the mesmeric, death-intoxicated tread of ''Der Wegweiser'' and the hypnosis of ''Die Nebensonnen'', all confidently achieved. Throughout, Roger Vignoles is an apt partner for the baritone, particularly in his analysis and dispatch of Schubert's many onomatopoeic effects in the piano part. His playing is texturally clear, rhythmically precise, above all aware of the many moments where Schubert is probing beyond the bounds of harmony as then conceived.
When one comes to indulge in comparisons with this positive and enlightening interpretation, one may unkindly, even perversely complain that it may be a shade too well-balanced and well-groomed. The beauties of Allen's mellow timbre are a shade foreign to the agonies of the desperate winter traveller when set beside the spare, plangent tone of Schreier (Philips; don't overlook his Decca version with Schiff, due out next year) or Pears, (Decca—see below), the haunted quality in Hotter's voice (EMI) or the sheer torment evinced by Fischer-Dieskau (EMI) and, unforgettably, by Fassbaender (also EMI)—all of them more willing with their respective pianists to take unexpected risks than the new pairing. But for someone starting on this sector of the repertory, Allen and Vignoles might be the safest recommendation. They have been evenly balanced and caringly recorded at The Maltings, Snape. RW's informative note should be a wonderful stimulus for the intending listener.'