Here is another important issue to confirm Peter Schreier as king among Lieder interpreters today. It seems that he is enjoying an Indian summer of inspiration in his chosen field of communication, his performances notably enhanced by association with pianists of the calibre of Andras Schiff and now Christoph Eschenbach, whose place is surely at the piano, not on the podium. He is a player of impeccable credentials in Schumann and proven ability as an accompanist of this composer's songs—as he demonstrated in an earlier DG series of recordings made a decade or so ago with Fischer-Dieskau. Now in partnership with Schreier he furthers his reputation in this field.
So much is right in this issue that it is hard not to make it a string of superlatives. Schreier, as ever, seems the born singer for these, as for so many others songs, consistently exemplary in tone and line, always making his interpretative points cogently and almost always without the need for exaggeration. That said, he is always a 'strong' advocate for Schumann, as is Eschenbach: their readings are positive in their viewpoint, just occasionally too much so—as in Wanderlied and Auftrage where you feel just a little less would be so much more, but these are very much the exceptions to the welcome rule.
The pair have chosen the three cycles appropriate to a man's voice and then gone on to record the better songs from other groups. The arrangement of all three discs is sensible and logical. The first starts with an account of the Eichendorff Liederkreis that surpasses Schreier's much earlier DG version with Olbertz (11/77—nla). Here the pair wholly immerse themselves in the mysterious, romantic mood of these ever-remarkable songs. Quite free over tempo and rubato, they seldom step outside acceptable parameters, and together make their storytelling eager and spontaneous. By dint of Eschenbach's playing this would now be my preferred version of this song-cycle.
The selection from Myrthen is excellent. Such famous songs as ''Der Nussbaum'', ''Die Lotosblume'' and ''Du bist wie eine Blume'' receive definitive performances and the pair conclusively show that Nos. 15 and 21 from this set are better than Eric Sams allows in his book on the composer's songs (Methuen: 1969).
On the second disc there is again a judicious choice from the uneven Opp. 35 and 79, not least an unforgettable account of the arrestingly beautiful ''Stille Liebe'' from the former set, where Eschenbach's account of the postlude shows his imaginative mind at its most compelling. The five Hans Andersen settings (Op. 40), still underrated, are given their due, most of all the Mahler-like ''Der Spielmann'' (which Sams rightly terms an unjustly overlooked masterpiece), where Schreier once again tells a story with unforgettable immediacy and total confidence in his means of expression. The wonderful piano counterpoint to No. 5 of Op. 37 is brought out potently by Eschenbach; so is the ethereal mood of the setting of Byron's ''To the Moon'' (Op. 95 No. 2), also set by Strauss and Wolf.
The third disc is entirely devoted to settings of Heine, a poet to whom the like-minded Schumann always responded with his very best. Satisfying as is Schreier's account of Dichterliebe with Sawallisch (Philips), this one surpasses it and is again my new recommendation. Schreier is as impressive as he was there. Eschenbach's discovery of ever more detail and variety of expression in the piano parts—listen to the representation of twinkling stars in No. 8 and the wedding sounds of No. 9, or to his sensitivity in the postlude to No. 12, or his technical mastery in the final two songs—gives him the edge over the excellent Sawallisch and here there are no audience noises. Liederkreis, Op. 24 is just as successful. But almost the most glorious performance of all comes in the ineffably beautiful Dein Angesicht.
In a year of many exceptional discs of song, this one still manages to stand out. With the advantage of quite faultless balance between voice and piano, and an acoustic absolutely right for Lieder, this is a set that will give endless hours of pleasure to lovers of Lieder and of Schumann in general. It has already done that for me.'