Great Gramophone review
May 16, 2025
Hugo Shirley
Recordings of Winterreise featuring fortepiano have tended to feature tenors, presumably because performing the cycle in Schubert’s original keys has been seen as more authentic. Either way, there’s something immediately fresh and engaging to be found in this new recording of the cycle from Danish bass-baritone Jakob Bloch Jesperson and Israel-born pianist Sharon Prushansky.
Prushansky plays on a 2015 Robert Brown fortepiano based on an instrument by Jakob Bertsche (c1810 15) and makes the very most of all that it – and its six pedals – has to offer: the arresting quietness of the una corda; the other-worldly, distant sound of the double moderator (employed all through a haunting ‘Der Leiermann’); the menacing growl of the bassoon stop as the cold wind blows in ‘Der Lindenbaum’ or our wanderer is awakened – by an especially piercing crow – in ‘Frühlingstraum’.
There’s certainly a lot going on in the accompaniments, and Prushansky is superb at painting the various wintry scenes – listen to how she conveys biting cold and resultant numbness in an outstanding performance of ‘Rast’. Initially, by contrast, Jesperson’s performance can seem somewhat broad-brush, generalised; but as the performance progresses, one notices how well the two artists complement and support one another.
The bass-baritone presents a protagonist who is world-weary. His voice is generally mellow – with a pleasing warmth especially to the lower register – and he makes his way through this vividly etched landscape with a certain sense of resignation; there are fleeting glimpses of defiance, but little more. In the final song he seems to watch the Hurdy-Gurdy Man impassively and numbly – with Jesperson this feels like an end, faced almost peacefully.
It’s a moving, serious and thoughtful account of this great work – captured in natural sound – and there’s something beautifully balanced in the contrasting but complementary approaches of singer and pianist that come together to make it a rewarding listen. It’s a Winterreise that’s well worth seeking out. Author: Hugo Shirley, June 2025
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/schubert-winterreise-jakob-bloch-jespersen