I have no hesitation in saying that this is one of the most satisfying, finely executed discs of Schumann interpretation ever to come my way. After the overbearing performances of the same composer's I.ieder by Terfel last month, these reticent, sensitively shaped, immaculately sung and understood readings come like balm to the ear. Kupfer is, on this evidence, destined for greater recognition in this field.
His voice, a light, vibrant baritone, uncannily recalls that of the younger Holzmair. Its owner uses it unerringly to enter the particular world predicated by Schumann's imaginative, usually inspired settings of Heine and Kerner. However many times you may have encountered these songs, you will, I hope, feel that here they are given a fresh impetus, with a welcome attention to the basic verities of line and phrasing. Comparison for once seems out of order.
<Above all, Kupfer and his equally admirable partner (playing a piano of Schumann's era) enter into the two facets of Schumann's psyche - his Florestan and Eusebius creations - heard here in immediate proximity, for instance, in Wanderung and Stille Liebe of Op 35, the first all brisk extroversion, the second all inward sorrow, moods perfectly caught in voice and piano. Even better, if that's possible, is Stirb, Lieb' und Freud, a difficult song to encompass, with its contrasts between scene-painting and the impersonation of the woebegone maid. Again, the balance of reticence and boldness is adjudged just right. So is the measured, almost hypnotic treatment of the set's last two, deeply eloquent songs.
<The treatment of the Heine Liederkreis is hardly less remarkable, with the secrets below the surface of the poet's words and Schumann's settings keenly probed, and some really beautiful singing qua singing from the highly gifted and intelligent Kupfer. A couple of minor complaints - a slightly too reverberant recording, rather short measure (how one would have liked another five songs from this team!) and missing texts for the last two songs in the booklet - need not deter anyone who wants this coupling from hurrying to buy this disc, and so enjoying a wonderful experience.
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