Die schöne Müllerin: "Lorenz is a baritone I have long admired. His earlier offerings for Capriccio, in particular his Winterreise ((CD) 10 162/3, 2/88), are...

Die schöne Müllerin:

"Lorenz is a baritone I have long admired. His earlier offerings for Capriccio, in particular his Winterreise ((CD) 10 162/3, 2/88), are on the highest level of interpretation, and his account of the earlier cycle is in a similar category of achievement. Once again his light, mellifluous, tenor-like baritone frequently reminds me of Fischer-Dieskau, but in this cycle, where the older singer could sound a shade overbearing for the youth being portrayed, Lorenz perfectly suggests the boy's ardour, idealism, hesitancy and eventual sorrow—a wonderful naturalness arises from his performance. His phrasing is exemplary in every respect, as is his diction and attack. ''Ungeduld'' is fervent without being pulled about. The strophic songs are finely varied. ''Pause'' has just the right sense of doubt and emptiness. The angry imprecations against the hunter are properly peremptory and alertly coordinated with Shetler's pointed playing. Then, in the last five songs, Lorenz and his partner create just the right feeling of sorrowing combined with a death-wish. ..Lorenz overall is vocally faultless, interpretatively true and unaffected. The recording leaves nothing to be desired."
Alan Blyth, Gramophone review from original release, Capriccio 10220

Schwanengesang

"Lorenz is, on the strength of this record, an interpreter of the highest calibre. Strongly reminiscent in tone and style of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and in that respect different from Olaf Bar, he is no mere clone of that distinguished artist. His voice, if I judge aright from this recorded evidence, is not so large as his predecessor's, but it has the same range and scrupulous control of dynamics.

The interpretation has many similarities with Fischer-Dieskau's. ''Aufenthalt'' is taken at the same deliberate, perhaps too deliberate pace. ''Der Atlas'' is almost too forceful, ''Am Meer'' is sung in a firm, exquisite mezza voce, ''Die Stadt'' in a haunting, veiled manner. ''Der Doppelganger'' has suitable awe and terror. But Lorenz can be different from his mentor. Often his somewhat lighter voice is better attuned to the task in hand, as in ''Liebesbotschaft'' and ''Das Fischermadchen'' and he signs off with a nicely airy ''Taubenpost''. In general, there is less resort to verbal emphasis, yet points are unerringly made. In sum, Lorenz seems to have encompassed Fischer-Dieskau's all-consuming influence while not being entirely dominated by it.

Norman Shetler, without being quite in the Moore class nor so perceptive as Brendel in Fischer-Dieskau's more recent, less satisfactory Philips reading, is never outclassed. Indeed, his rather less individual style is more of a piece with his partner's approach. The recording is admirably natural and evenly balanced. All in all, this is an interpretation that would be an asset to any collection, particularly one that does not already include Fischer-Dieskau's DG version with Moore."
-- Alan Blyth, Gramophone Review from original release, Capriccio 10097