Araiza is familiar to us as a fine Mozart and Donizetti tenor. In this country, he has yet to appear in recital, but he has often sung at the Schubert Festival at Hohenems, where his account of this cycle has been much admired. Now we can hear just why. His clean, firm well-produced tenor, perhaps the most attractive in this repertory since Wunderlich's day, is used throughout the work to impersonate the pleasure and pain of the cycle's protagonist. His line is uniformly secure, and his control of dynamics exemplary.
At first I thought his interpretation a little pallid, but as it progressed, I began to appreciate not only his comparative restraint but also the subtlety of his reading. He conjures up the working energy of ''Am Feierabend'', the eagerness of ''Ungeduld'' (the verses well-varied), the poetry of the three strophic songs, the joy of ''Mein!''. In ''Der Neugierige'', I liked the slight hesitation at ''Das andere heisset''—pause— ''Nein''. When things turn unhappy for the impressionable loveR, Araiza nicely alters his approach, catching the bitter jealousy of the fourteenth and fifteenth songs, the self-pity of the marvellous ''Trockne Blumen'', though there is a suspicion of sliding here that is foreign to Schubert's expression.
There are other reservations. ''Pause'' is altogether too prolonged, sentimentalizing it unduly, while the following song is too quick! I attribute these eccentricities, possibly wrongly, to his partner, for Gage throughout is inclined to be rather self-regarding not least in the preludes to ''Tranenregen'' and ''Pause'', although the converse of his interpretation is the many details he rightly gives their due in the piano's important role. Following Gerald Moore's advice he leaves out the opening chord of No. 13.
From the pianist's point of view I prefer Graham Johnson in every way on the Hyperion issue, but Martyn Hill's narrow range of expression isn't comparable to Araiza's. The Partridges on CfP have a freshness and spontaneity that is attractive and doesn't stale with repetition. Schreier (Intercord), still my favourite, is more involving than Araiza, more naturally attentive to the meaning of the texts, and Steven Zehr's fortepiano provides a sensitive and authentic support. The new version has much to offer as I have suggested, but by Schreier's side it seems a trifle contrive. CD tends to emphasize a slightly wiry quality in Araiza's otherwise excellent vocalization. On this occasion the LP sounds warmer and more flattering.'