Schubert in English (Vol 3): The Fair Maid of the Mill

Name: Schubert in English (Vol 3): The Fair Maid of the Mill
SKU: SIGCD711
Availability: InStock

£8.00 – £14.00

Christopher Glynn continues his series of Schubert in English releases with a new recording of ‘The Fair Maid of the Mill’ (Die schöne Müllerin) with acclaimed Scottish tenor Nicky Spence. Set to a new translation by writer and director Jeremy Sams, Willhelm Müller’s direct and emotionally-charged poetry became the basis of Schubert’s first cycle to tell a complete story over the course of its 20 songs.

Nicky Spence is one of Scotland’s proudest sons and his unique skills as a singing actor and the rare honesty of his musicianship have earned him a place at the top of the classical music profession. Nicky won a record contract with Decca records while still studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then took a place as an inaugural Harewood Artist at the ENO.

Christopher Glynn is a Grammy award-winning pianist, praised for his ‘breathtaking sensitivity’ (Gramophone), ‘irre- pressible energy, wit and finesse’ (The Guardian) and ‘perfect fusion of voice and piano’ (BBC Music Magazine). He is also Artistic Director of the Ryedale Festival, where he has been praised as a ‘visionary’ and ‘inspired programmer’ (The Times).

“[Nicky Spence] undoubtedly one of the most brilliantly communicative singers working today. In his hands, every word feels natural and right … Glynn plays with subtlety throughout, underpinning the interpretation with a wealth of telling details. If you have any doubts about the idea of lieder in English, this superb performance – beautifully recorded – should win you over” – Gramophone

★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording “Nicky Spence ranges with great nuance through romance, awkwardness, brashness, self-doubt, the matter is the loneliness of unrequited love, the vulnerability, all done with that little bit of theatricality that is there in the original Wilhelm Müller poem cycle…’The Brook Sings A Lullaby’ finale is quietly devastating, Spence building it’s impact slowly, vocally tender and protective; Glynn ever-skilfully evoking the smooth, soothing currents” – BBC Music Magazine

“[Nicky Spence] still a beautiful, flexible, easily-produced sound which never falters; his tone encompasses both sweetness and power as required and his knack of placing just the right emphasis or applying a momentary pause in the words without unduly disrupting the vocal line is apparent throughout…Glynn supports him with some of the most subtle and sensitive pianism I have even heard applied to this work…[Glynn] and Spence make an ideally matched partnership – fresh and immediate, presenting it in a manner which could easily win new adherents to this miraculous song cycle” – Musicweb International

Music Format

High-Res FLAC
Standard FLAC
CD
MP3

Clear selection

SKU: SIGCD711

Nicky Spence tenor

Christopher Glynn piano

Release date: 20/05/2022

Catalogue number: SIGCD711

Barcode:635212071120

“Tenor Nicky Spence’s own sense of crossover theatricality heightens the immediacy and intimacy of the cycle and Sams’s new texts with a verdant tenor that blooms and contracts in emotional fits and starts…this English “Müllerin” so rich and compulsively listenable” – The Van Magazine

“Intimacy and immediacy, then, are the hallmarks of this recording, arguably the most successful of the three Schubert cycles that Glynn has given us on Signum. Spence’s singing will be enough incentive for many to hear this disc, but his partnership with Glynn is constantly rewarding, and Sams’s translations – faithful to the spirit of Müller’s poems even where they depart from a literal rendering – are a splendid achievement in themselves. They bring the English-speaking listener closer than ever to the extraordinary expressive journey of one of the 19th century’s great song cycles” – EuropaDisc

“There is an undeniable immediacy in hearing this beloved tale sung in English…In their hands and Nicky’s agile voice this a theatrical do, a story retold from a fresh perspective. You really sense the shifts in the mental state of the journeyman-poet as his tragic tale unfolds. It’s masterful, beautifully recorded” – BBC Radio 3

“Just the ticket is Spence himself, sounding fresh-feeling and dramatically potent, and with his easy vocal agility a further boon – the defeated, tender beauty with which he glides up a sixth over ‘close your eyes’ in the final, ‘The Brook Sings a Lullaby’ (Des Baches Wiegenlied), is spellbindingly devastating. And always there’s Glynn himself catching every mood and nuance of the pianistic writing and how it interacts with the voice. In fact, it doesn’t feel like an exaggeration to describe this as a revelatory recording. Not to mention a valuable new addition to the Lied repertoire.” – DCS Audio

“The versatile Nicky Spence savours the texts with obvious relish and expressivity…Everything feels deeply considered and he is careful over nuances and vocal colours…Nicky Spence technical ability is impeccable, that Christopher Glynn follows him like a shadow and that the recording balance is ideal…Nicky Spence’s theatrical reading should be a natural choice, but also an interesting alternative version for well-stocked collectors” – MusicWeb International

[1] – I. Das Wandern “Somewhere”

[2] – II. Wohin? “Where Now?”

[3] – III. Halt! “Stop!”

[4] – IV. Danksagung an den Bach “A Thank You to the Stream”

[5] – V. Am Feierabend “The End of a Long Day’s Work”

[6] – VI. Der Neugierige “Curiosity”

[7] – VII. Ungeduld “Impatience”

[8] – VIII. Morgengruss “Good Morning”

[9] – IX. Des Müllers Blumen “The Miller’s Flowers”

[10] – X. Tränenregen “Tears Like Rain”

[11] – XI. Mein! “Mine!”

[12] – XII. Pause “Interlude”

[13] – XIII. Mit dem grünen Lautenbande “The Green Ribbon”

[14] – XIV. Der Jäger “The Huntsman”

[15] – XV. Eifersucht und Stolz “Jealously and Pride”

[16] – XVI. Die liebe Farbe “Her Favourite Colour”

[17] – XVII. Die böse Farbe “The Hated Colour”

[18] – XVIII. Trockne Blumen “Withered Flowers”

[19] – XIX. Der Müller und der Bach “The Miller and the Brook”

[20] – XX. Des Baches Wiegenlied “The Brook Sings a Lullaby”