Yes, Schubert song recitals are a dime a dozen (or two a penny), and yes, the organizing principles for this release by baritone Samuel Hasselhorn sound pretty general, both in the title ("Belief, Hope, Love") and in the various marketing materials that accompany the album. Nevertheless, no one should be thereby discouraged from checking out what is an absolutely top-notch Schubert recital from Hasselhorn and ace accompanist Joseph Middleton. What unifies the group is that the 15 songs included here are some of Schubert's most daring, most individual works in the form. There are a few familiar numbers, including Erlkönig, D. 328, the most famous Schubert song of all, but placed in this context, surrounded by unique pieces, its originality shines forth anew. Many of the pieces will be new even to confirmed Schubertians. There are longer ballads of the sort singers always seem uncertain what to do with like Der Zwerg, D. 771, a truly existential song in the form of Totengräbers Heimweh, D. 842, and, to close, a spoken melodrama scene, Schubert's only one, Abschied von der Erde, D. 829. The pieces are all tied in the notes into Schubert's life and into the poetic scene that surrounded him; the excitement of his encounter with Goethe's poetry in Rastlose Liebe, D. 138, has rarely been put across as convincingly as it is here. This adds up to an absolutely gripping recital that catches something of the feverish creative atmosphere in which these songs arose. The sound from La Courroie in Entraigues sur la Sorgue, France, is ideal.
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