Schubert Among Friends

"This is a wonderful and deserving tribute to the 25th anniversary of the Aldeburgh Connection. Five out of five." – CBC Sound Advice

"Is there a stronger Schubert tenor these days than Michael Schade? His tenor sound seems perfectly created for Schubert Lieder. It’s light and lyrical, with natural, beautiful shaping. Diction and expression are wonderful. And it’s always so melodic and musical. All four singers and the two pianists here are at their best. And the recorded sound is bright and warm. This is a wonderful and deserving tribute to the 25th anniversary of the Aldeburgh Connection. Five out of five." – CBC Sound Advice

Schubert Among Friends is a brilliant recreation of what a musical evening with Schubert would have been like. The CD features many of the composer's best loved songs and piano music, performed by four internationally acclaimed Canadian singers and two pianists renowned for their sensitive interpretations of Schubert's music.

This Schubert repertoire centres around the theme of 'connection' in several forms: love and friendship, separation and loss, kinship with nature. The songs range from the most light-hearted to some of Schubert's most deeply-felt and expressive music (notably the famous Litanei).

For this recording, Aldeburgh Connection artistic directors and pianists Stephen Ralls and Bruce Ubukata brought together a group of their singer friends to record a Schubertiad, a musical party which was a favourite activity of Schubert's circle. The singers are: Tenors Michael Schade and Colin Ainsworth, Soprano Gillian Keith and baritone Gerald Finley.

Catalog: MAR 365
Preview or purchase on iTunes Canada USA


Track Listing

Songs, part-songs and piano music by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

1. Dithyrambe (Friedrich von Schiller)
2. Täglich zu singen (Matthias Claudius)
3. Lachen und Weinen (Friedrich Rückert)
4. Der Wanderer an den Mond (Johann Gabriel Seidl)
5. Die Sterne (Karl Gottfried von Leitner)
6. An eine Quelle (Claudius)
7. Nachtviolen (Johann Baptist Mayrhofer)
8. Der Jüngling an der Quelle (Johann Gaudenz Freiherr von Salis-Seewis)
9. Am Bach im Frühlinge (Franz von Schober)
10. Der Schmetterling (Friedrich von Schlegel)
11. Das Lied im Grünen (Friedrich Reil)
12. Der Hochzeitsbraten (Schober)
13. Rondo in A
14. Mignon und der Harfner (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe),
15. Sehnsucht (Schiller)
16. Nähe des Geliebten (Goethe)
17. Die abgeblühte Linde (Ludwig Graf von Széchényi)
18. Am Tage Aller Seelen (Litanei) (Johann Georg Jacobi),
19. Der Musensohn (Goethe)