Naxos scores another winner in its ongoing Schubert-Lied-Edition (this is Volume 17 in the overall series), again ideally matching soloist to repertoire and organizing a varied program that includes some rarely-heard songs. The music isn't all among Schubert's finest or most inspired songwriting--indeed, there's a lightness of weight and spirit inherent in the melodic/harmonic makeup of many of the songs, partly owing to their themes ("joy", "drinking", "contentment") and perhaps to their lack of textual profundity. However, in songs such as "Der Unglückliche" (The unhappy one), "An die Geliebte" (To the beloved), "Die Sterne" (The stars), "Die erste Liebe" (The first love), and "Vergebliche Liebe" (Love in vain), Schubert is at the top of his form, and there are enough of these more musically and emotionally involving songs to more than keep our full attention through the complete recital.

Of course, much of this is due to baritone Detlef Roth, whose warm tone, burnished with a pleasing edge of brightness, invests in each lied a conviction and interpretive artistry that makes for beautiful vocalism while really conveying meaning and mood. You have no problem identifying the emotional context of any of these songs, just by hearing Roth's particular tone-color or manner of inflection, placement of a vowel, dynamic shaping of a phrase, and so forth--just as good singers should do, but don't always succeed as convincingly as this. My only complaint is Roth's tendency to articulate runs (in "Die Frölichkeit", for instance) by placing an "h" in front of each note, an unnecessary distraction, however slight.

The sound gives a bit of a hard edge in the louder-volume treble piano registers--again a slight but noticeable distraction--but otherwise, the acoustic environment is well-captured and suits the voice to perfection. Ulrich Eisenlohr gives excellent support and interpretive depth to the songs, as he has done for many other singers in this series. Roth is a wonderful artist, and I look forward to hearing him again, perhaps in another Schubert-Lied-Edition installment. [10/28/2004]

--David Vernier