Renowned performers Iestyn Davies and Joseph Middleton perform Schubert’s tragic song- cycle Die schöne Müllerin (The Beautiful Maid of the Mill). Adapting poetry by Wilhelm Müller, the genesis of D. 795 marks the beginning of the end of Schubert’s life; he discovered that he had contracted syphilis sometime in late 1822 or early 1823, and it was in 1823 that he composed this tale of a poet-singer who dies in the aftermath of erotic experience.
Released under the own label of St John’s College, Cambridge, this recording acts as a celebration of Iestyn Davies’s formative period at the college; beginning there as a 7-year-old probationer in 1987, he progressed to become Head Chorister, before ultimately returning to study as a choral scholar. Alongside full texts and translations, the booklet includes a background on the work by noted Lied expert Susan Youens, as well as reflections on Iestyn’s time at St John’s from the College’s past and present Directors of Music – Christopher Robinson and Andrew Nethsingha.
“”Die liebe Farbe” is hauntingly beautiful, for example, the countertenor spinning his line with a deeply affecting purity of tone…there’s a hypnotic quality to “Der Muller und der Bach too…The way the pair handle the switch in mood at “O Bachlein meiner Liebe”…will stop you in your tracks…This is an often beguiling – and well-recorded – album. The countertenor’s fans need not hesitate, and adventurous Schubertians might well also want to seek it out for a fresh perspective on this familiar work” – Gramophone
“Highly polished performance from two superb musicians…The slower songs work beautifully…Middleton brings texture through his imaginative rendition of Schubert’s accompaniments. The recording quality is outstandingly clear” – BBC Music Magazine