San Francisco Classical Voice

February 2, 1999

One of Franz Schubert's favorite occupations was tramping about the countryside, and he wrote many songs celebrating that activity. Tenor Christoph Pregardien and pianist Michael Gees have fashioned their own Schubert cycle on that theme, "Songs of Farewell and Travel." They brought it to San Francisco's Herbst Theater last Tuesday.

These twenty-four Schubert songs, some seldom heard, were arranged in intriguing juxtapositions, each song bearing a subtle relationship to the next, complementary or contrasting in respect to length, and mood.

Both artists were masterful in their timing within and between songs, and in setting a mood. Pregardien is a good story-teller, bringing out the narrative of each poem with sympathetic intelligence. While in the first few songs his voice had a bland speaking quality, beginning with "Der Wanderer," on phrases such as "wo bist du" and "gesucht, geahnt," he took on a more singing sound. Thereafter, the voice had more ring, his face came alive, and physical gestures made a telling contribution to his stories.

Both singer and pianist were in their element in the stormy "Erlkoenig," using dynamic shading, gesture and contrasts in sound to superb dramatic effect. This song was particularly well placed in the program, preceded by the eerie ghost-dances of "Der Geistertanz" and followed by the calm reassurance of the beautifully sustained "Wanderers Nachtlied." "Der Musensohn" ended the first half of the program on a lively, restless note.

After the intermission, Pregardien used word painting to great expressive effect in "Lied des gefangenen Jagers" and "Der Wanderer." His body language in "Der Einsame" was equally effective, and in "An die Turen," his sound reached the heart. Late in the recital, he pushed his voice and had a few pitch problems. While rising almost to a shout in "Der Schiffer" was consistent with the song's affect, "An Schwager Kronos" seemed to call for more heft than the voice possessed. Pregardien has strong dramatic and musical gifts, but he could have a more beautiful and colorful singing sound.

Throughout the concert, Gees was the ideal accompanist, seeming to sing along on the piano, his sound weaving in and out with the voice in dynamic nuance, his rhythmic support exemplary.

The program ended on a real "coup de theatre," with the tortured "Doppelganger," immediately followed by the still, slow, yearning "Nacht und Traume." With that ending, Pregardien had the audience transfixed, holding off all applause when it had ended until he relaxed his concentration. It seemed a pity then to ask for encores, but the enthusiastic audience did and was obliged with "Die Taubenpost" and "Der Lindenbaum" before the artists returned the applause and made their final exit.

(Anna Carol Dudley is a singer, teacher, lecturer emerita at San Francisco State University, and director of the San Francisco Early Music Society's Baroque Music Workshop.)

©1999 Anna Carol Dudley, all rights reserved