I recall Luxon giving this cycle with great success in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall a couple of seasons back. What distinguished that performance and the same is true of this disc, is the identification of the singer with the moods of each song all of them very clearly differentiated, and the absence of any hint of routine. You don't feel with Luxon that he is trying to give you his interpretation, rather he communicates naturally the words and their meaning. In that he comes close to Lorenz's very persuasive account of these marvellous settings of Rellstab and Heine (Capriccio/Target). I like the natural lift Luxon gives to the four quick songs. The speed for ''Fruhlingssehnsucht'' is very fast indeed, presumably to convey the sense of restlessness in text and music—this works very well with Willison's playing, nimble but never obtrusive in the modern way. The lighter, seductive songs, ''Standchen'' and ''Das Fischermadchen'', receive pleasing and charming performances, concentrating on intimate mezza voce as they should.
Luxon is quite able to rise to the challenge of the sad and/or tragic songs. In ''Kriegers Ahnung'' he captures the mood of dreamy longing. ''Aufenthalt'' is properly formidable at the right pace Lorenz and Fischer-Dieskau (EMI) both seem too slow here. Luxon rises to the bitter defiance of ''Der Atlas'', without overdoing the histrionics as Fischer-Dieskau is inclined to do. This contrasts wonderfully with the 'distanced' tone applied to that great song ''Ihr Bild'', making the despair of the final couplet rightly a contrast, though here Fischer-Dieskau's overwhelmingly subjective passion carries extra conviction. The same approach by the two singers is heard in the closing lines of ''Die Stadt''. Luxon accepts the profound challenge of ''Der Doppelganger'' though here the tone does sometimes become a little forced and over-vibrant in the two big climaxes.
Throughout Willison is a sympathetic, reliable partner, but not quite as inquiring or positive as Shetler or Moore. The recording made in The Maltings, Snape, is spacious but at the same time immediate. To sum up, Luxon's performance isn't quite as well sung as that by Lorens, but it is more searching in its emotional range. Regular readers will know that I have always found Fischer-Dieskau's particular gifts ideal for this work, and his must remain my first recommendation, but make sure you get the EMI 1962 performance listed above, the later accounts for DG and Philips aren't so satisfactory.'