Slovene tenor Pavol Breslik has been gaining a strong reputation for both opera and lieder performances, and this reading of Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, where he has no shortage of competition, can only make that reputation grow. The precipitous crash of the relationship depicted in Schubert's cycle has led singers to give the music a darker tinge (and has invited baritones to undertake the essentially youthful role of the protagonist). Breslik runs counter to this trend with a classically emotive reading: ...
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Slovene tenor Pavol Breslik has been gaining a strong reputation for both opera and lieder performances, and this reading of Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, where he has no shortage of competition, can only make that reputation grow. The precipitous crash of the relationship depicted in Schubert's cycle has led singers to give the music a darker tinge (and has invited baritones to undertake the essentially youthful role of the protagonist). Breslik runs counter to this trend with a classically emotive reading: involved with the text, laying into the operatic high notes, paying careful attention to details of diction. He is extremely ably assisted by pianist Amir Katz who gives the text's water imagery an independent life that one can only think Schubert would have absolutely loved. In the enclosed interview with Breslik (in German and English), the singer recalls hearing Fritz Wunderlich sing the cycle and being impressed by the passion he brought to the music. That is the lineage into which...
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