At the moment I own nine Lindenbaum recordings:

- Olaf Bar, Geoffrey Parsons 1989
- Brigitte Fassbaender, Aribert Reimann 1988
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Daniel Barenboim 1979
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore 1972
- Matthias Goerne, Graham Johnson 1996
- Hans Hotter, Gerald Moore 1954
- Christoph Pregardien, Andreas Staier 1996
- Hermann Prey, Wolfgang Sawallisch 1973
- Roman Trekel, Ulrich Eisenlohr 1998

Which one of these is the best?

Der Lindenbaum is a Lied of farewell and resignation but at the same
time of pain and despair. The winter traveller doesn't want to leave -
and at the same time is filled with a desperate manly pride to go and
face the cold winter landscape. Singer and pianist have to show this
ambivalence in their performance.

Olaf Bar and Geoffrey Parsons are the weakest performers since they
(especially Olaf Bar) are simply boring.  This winter traveller is
suffering so nobly that the listener yawns with pity.  Olaf Bar's voice
is fine but here pale and inexpressive.  The listener does not get
interested in this traveller's plight.

Matthias Goerne is one of those singers who tend to analyse Lieder instead
of singing them.  Sometimes this anti-romantic attitude gives us wonderful
insights (for example if you listen to his brillant Hanns Eisler Hollywood
Songbook).  But here his singing is so distanced that the performance
remains bloodless.  Graham Johnson's piano playing deserved a livelier
singer.

I love Christoph Pregardien's voice but his Lindenbaum with Andreas
Staier is surprisinly uninteresting: Another noble-singing guy who
somnambulistically sings about some tree and some plight the listener
loses interest in after a short while - despite the fine fortepiano
Andreas Staier plays.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau acts again!  Daniel Barenboim plays fine but
the singer does too much: instead of just singing and feeling the Lied
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau stresses this word and underlines that and thus
mars the very emotion of the Lied.  A pity.

Winterreise was the first output of the Naxos Schubert Edition which is
a wonderful supplementation (not an alternative!) to the groundbreaking
Hyperion Edition.  Roman Trekel has a wonderful voice and is able to
express deep emotion.  Ulrich Eisenlohr's playing is not as convincing
as Roman Trekel's singing but nevertheless this is an entertaining and
moving performance.  Surely not better than the famous one from Hans
Hotter and Gerald Moore but then not much worse.  Hans Hotter's is simply
a different concept: the winter traveller of 1954 is resigned and tired,
there is no raging against the dying of the sun.  Convincing but not my
cup of tea (but maybe mine when I'm older).

The three best recordings: Hermann Prey with Wolfgang Sawallisch - Prey's
voice is wonderful and although there is always the risk with him to get
lost in sentimentality he transports noble and at the same time manly
suffering.  Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau avoids his usual over-acting in his
1972 recording with Gerald Moore and does some Lieder Method Acting: he
feels what the winter traveller feels and sings it, like a kind of
baritone Fritz Wunderlich.  His singing sounds natural and thus moves
the listener.

An extreme recording is the one with Brigitte Fassbaender and Aribert
Reimann.  The pace is extremely slow (5:11 in contrast to Hermann Prey's
4:32).  The effect is breathtaking: we find ourselves in a kind of
parallel universe of regret and pain.  Brigitte Fassbaender's performance
is full of tragedy and suffering and utterly convincing.  I believe every
single word she sings: her winter traveller is not resigned, there's a
lot of anger under the ice.  The best recording I know (but I still do
not own Peter Pears' version which is said to be marvelous).

And which are your best Lindenbaum recordings?

Robert