SCHUBERT: 12 DEUTSCHE, RONDO,

SCHUBERT: DIE SCHONE MULLERIN

Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D. 759 "Unfinished" & S

SCHUBERT: VIOLIN SONATA NO 1,

SCHUBERT: PIANO SONATAS D 850,

These performances are also included on Sony's 10-disc set "Bruno Walter
Edition Volume 3" - Sony Classical 66248.

Schubert’s last song cycle – his Schwanengesang – may lack the dramatic unity of Winterreise or Die schöne Müllerin, but its 13 lieder nevertheless form a coherent single work: seven settings of poems by Rellstab, in which the tone is generally confident, even if the undercurrent of disquiet is palpable, followed by six Heine settings, where the mood is darker and increasingly tormented. For no discernible reason – except that ‘Abschied’ (‘Farewell’) becomes the final number – the two sets have been transposed here, so that the sense of the singer’s descent into despair is compromised. Fortunately, however, the young Danish baritone Boje Skovhus sings with such shattering expressiveness that he overcomes this anomaly, suffusing ‘Abschied’, despite its jovial piano part, with a sense of such agitation that one is in no doubt that this is a man on the brink of suicide. But it is in the Heine songs that this outstanding singer – his voice is robust but controlled with infinite delicacy, his phrasing impeccable – really comes into his own. Rarely has ‘Die Stadt’ seemed so threatening. His Winterreise, when he comes to record it, promises great things. Which is more than can be said for the Canadian baritone Patrick Mason’s insipid account of this most searing cycle. Granted, his voice is fine enough and his musicianship is not in question, but he may as well be singing nursery rhymes for all the anguish he conveys.
Performance: 5 (Out of 5), Sound: 5 (Out of 5)

-- Claire Wrathall, BBC Music Magazine

This disc was nominated for the 1997 Grammy Award for "Best Choral Performance."

SYMPHONY NO. 9

Classical Music

SCHUBERT: PIANO SONATAS D 664

Miss Verrett...comes into her own in the Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov songs. Her essentially lovely voice warms to these and I found them all most enjoyable... I hope Miss Verrett...will some day give us a recital of Russian songs, including some by Borodin and Mussorgsky, for she responds so sympathetically to those included on this disc...

-- Gramophone [6/1968]
reviewing the original LP release

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...I enjoyed hearing the immense sincerity she already brought to An die Musik and to Die Allmacht, a song calling for the dramatic power of an opera singer. The Russian items, sung in the original, are also deeply felt and here the unaffected style is very welcome. Needless to say the spirituals are superbly done, particularly Oh, Glory!, which I used, not long ago, for a radio profile of this artist. Witness shows off her excellent rhythmic sense and diction in English. Alleluia is technically secure, but the piece calls for a brighter voice. The accompanist is no great asset and as recorded sounds clangy. I do hope RCA will soon give us a new recital from this rich-voiced mezzo; she deserves as much.

-- Gramophone [6/1973]
reviewing an LP reissue of this recording

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“I believe in working and in being good.” - Shirley Verrett

"On stage Miss Verrett presents both a stunning physical appearance and a stunning voice. Vocally her range is large, and her voice is exceptionally expressive and memorable. She works on dramatics – conveying the meaning of the words – and strives equally hard, and equally successfully, to sustain a flowing musical line. She has mastered the subtlety of Schubert songs and the coloratura of Mozart’s “Alleluia.” The hymns and spirituals which she has been singing since childhood, and which she still loves to do, she obviously sings from the heart."

- Mary Campbell
quoted from the program notes for this album. 1965

SYMPHONY NO. 3,5,8

Schubert, F.: Vierjahrige Posten (Der) / Zwillingsbruder (Di

V 3: STRING QUARTETS