To help you with your voting for Gramophone’s Hall of Fame, a celebration of the men and women who have contributed to the glory that is the classical record catalogue, I’ve put together – using Spotify – a composite performance of Schubert’s song-cycle Die schöne Müllerin. Each song is performed by an artist (sometimes two) who is a nominee for the Hall of Fame. Click here to access the playlist, or you can click each song’s title and you will go to the recording from which it is taken. Obviously, as I’ve included sopranos, tenors and baritones, the key relationships won’t be as smooth as with a single singer; also the vintages of the different versions vary enormously, so don't expect consistent sound quality. But each singer brings his or her own palpable personality to this great cycle.

A number of singers appear more than once, but more often than not they’ll appear in different versions (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sings with Gerald Moore on two different recordings and well as with and Jörg Demus. Peter Schreier, too, appears three times: with pianists Walter Olbertz and András Schiff, and guitarist Konrad Ragossnig in an arrangement made by one of Gramophone’s contributors from yesteryear, John Duarte). 

The different approaches to interpreting these songs is fascinating, tracing an arc from the forthright pre-war styles of the Dane, Aksel Schiøtz, and his German contemporary, Gerhard Hüsch, both of whom pay scrupulous attention to maintaining their songs’ line, to the much more interventionist approach of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (my own favourite among his different recordings is the early 1960s DG disc with Jörg Demus at the piano). For sheer beauty of sound, Fritz Wunderlich, with Hubert Giesen on DG, is hard to beat, and his breath control is magnificent (though, among the baritones, Olaf Bär runs him close). The soprano Lotte Lehmann made her recording in 1942 when she was in her mid-fifties but her tone is firm, beautifully centred and her way with the words is an object lesson in telling a story through song.  

There’s one song in which I’ve cheated and opted for a voice-less version – Liszt’s transcription of 'Wohin?' for solo piano – which Evgeny Kissin plays with wonderful sensitivity. And talking of pianists, Gerald Moore’s scrupulous and enormously intelligent pianism runs through many of these recordings: what a great partner he was, matching his approach to the totally different styles of Aksel Schiøtz, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. And three other versions stand out for the glorious piano-playing, those by Peter Pears with Benjamin Britten, Peter Schreier with András Schiff and that doyen of accompanists, Michael Raucheisen (with Julius Patzak). And they are all nominees for the Hall of Fame as well.

Now, if that’s whetted your appetite, vote for your favourites for the Hall of Fame here. 

Die schöne Müllerin

1 Das Wandern – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Jörg Demus (DG)

2 Wohin? (trans Liszt) – Evgeny Kissin (RCA)

3 Halt! – Olaf Bär; Geoffrey Parsons (EMI)

4 Danksagung an den Bach – Aksel Schiøtz; Gerald Moore (Documents)

5 Am Feierabend – Hermann Prey; Leonard Hokanson (Philips)

6 Der Neuegierge – Peter Pears; Benjamin Britten (Decca)

7 Ungeduld – Elsabeth Schwarzkopf; Gerald Moore (EMI)

8 Morgengrüss – Peter Schreier; Walter Olbertz (Berlin Classics)

9 Des Müllers Blumen – Julius Patzak; Michael Raucheisen (Preiser)

10 Tränenregen – Lotte Lehmann; Paul Ulanowsky (Claremont)

11 Mein! (trans Duarte) – Peter Scheier; Konrad Ragossnig (Eterna)

12 Pause – Olaf Bär; Geoffrey Parsons (EMI)

13 Mit dem grünen Lautenbande  – Fritz Wunderlich; Rolf Reinhardt (Sony Classical) 

14 Der Jäger – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Gerald Moore (DG)

15 Eifersucht und Stolz – Gerhard Hüsch; Hanns Udo Müller (Preiser)

16 Die liebe Farbe – Peter Schreier; András Schiff (Decca)

17 Die Böse Farbe – Jussi Björling; Frederick Schauwecker (RCA)

18 Trockne Blumen – Peter Scheieer; András Schiff (Decca)

19 Der Müller und der Bach – Fritz Wunderlich; Hubert Giesen (DG)

20 Des Baches Wiegenlied – Dietrich-Fischer-Dieskau; Gerald Moore (EMI)