Despite its universality, Winterreise is usually deemed the province of male singers. Women have always sung it, however, and Alice Coote now adds her name to the distinguished list of female interpreters that includes Lotte Lehmann, Christa Ludwig and Brigitte Fassbaender. Her performance doesn't give up its secrets easily. The opening songs suggest a non-interventionist approach, and it's only gradually that we notice gathering complexities of emotion and meaning. In contrast to the recent recordings by Christopher Maltman and Florian Boesch, this is not a study of mental disintegration, but a painstaking examination of grief that eventually subsides into exhausted resignation. Coote's pianist is Julius Drake, admirably pointillist and comfortless. The speeds are too extreme for my taste, but it's a formidable experience nevertheless.
Contributor
Tim Ashley
Tim Ashley is a Guardian classical and opera critic, though he's also keen on literature and philosophy so you might sometimes find him cross-referencing all three. His work has also appeared in Literary Review and Opera magazine and he is author of a biography of Richard Strauss
Tim Ashley
The GuardianTramp
