Song Cycles - Die schöne Müllerin / Schwanengesang / Winterreise

Is this a tribute to Schubert? Or just to a leading Lieder tenor of our time? Probably this box is both and it represents a clear reference for anyone who is a seasoned Lieder lover or a neophyte wanting to approach this genre. I don't say anything new when I state that the three Schubert's Lieder cycles are the pinnacle in the history of the art song. Not by chance any serious male singer wants to record at least one of these masterpieces. Christoph Prégardien has been through the last two decades one of the most important and interesting voices confronting this engaging repertoire. He has taken an innovative approach in the history of interpretation, a way of singing that is linked to his consolidated experience as a Baroque tenor. The three discs originally issued met with the unanimous acclaim from critics and consumers. They immediately turned out to be reference versions of each cycle. So, this box comes as the discographic crowning achievement of Prégardien's career and it is easy to predict it will be the reference version of one of human history's highest musical moments: Schubert's most complex and most beloved output in the Lieder medium. About 'Die Schöne Müllerin': Prégardien, 2008 vintage, definitely joins the tenor Schöne Müllerin shortlist. (Gramophone) About 'Die Schwanengesang': 'While it is absurd to speak of an outright "winner" in such a crowded field, Prégardien and the ever-illuminating Staier join Schreier, Fischer-Dieskau and Brigitte Fassbaender on my roster of indispensable Schwanengesang recordings.' (Gramophone) About 'Die Winterreise': The voice is in superb form, sensing out the underlying pulse and the minutest inflections of longing, delight, determination and soul-weariness within each lithe, live line of melody. (BBC Music Magazine). This is beautiful singing by a master of his craft, and Prégardien brings to the cycle his early-music-specialisation qualities of precise diction, tuning and articulation. (Early Music Review)