At the moment I own nine Erlkonig recordings:
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore 1958
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore 1966/7
- Christa Ludwig, Geoffrey Parsons 1967
- Anne Sofie von Otter, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado
(Berlioz) 2002
- Christoph Pregardien, Michael Gees 1992
- Thomas Quasthoff, Chamber Orchestra of Europe unter Claudio Abbado
(Reger) 2002
- Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Gerald Moore 1966
- Christine Schafer, John Mark Ainsley, Michael George, Graham Johnson
1993/4
- Sarah Walker, Graham Johnson 1989
Which one of these is the best?
Erlkonig is a shocker and a recording of it has to shock to be a good
recording. The singer and the pianist must have the courage to attack
and frighten. The singer has to embody a stoic father, a panicking child
and a monstrous child molester. The last role is the most important
part of the whole enterprise.
Christoph Pregardien and Michael Gees are to my surprise the weakest
performers (this surprises me since when I had bought the record and
listened to it the first time I found theirs the best Erlkonig of them
all). There is no attack, no shock, no fear, no awe. It is a rather
lame horse which rides through this Lied and Erlkonig a kind of nice
singing wanna-be-scare.
Nice and interesting but not very shocking is Graham Johnson's experiment
with Erlkonig sung by three singers. His passionate piano playing is
the best feature of this recording. John Mark Ainsley is simply not
villainous enough, Michael George and Christine Schafer do fine jobs in
embodying the stoic father and the panicking child. (An Erlkonig recording
is like a James Bond movie: the better the villain the better the movie.)
Surprisinly uninteresting: Thomas Quasthoff in the fine Max Reger
version of Franz Schubert's Lied. His voice is a marvel but he simply
doesn't sound evil enough in this recording. One of the crucial moments
of Erlkonig is when the singer-villain has to unmask and sing "so brauch
ich Gewalt". In a very good Erlkonig performance this is the moment of
the greatest angst. But here nothing happens.
Anne-Sofie von Otter (in the fabulous Hector Berlioz setting) gives us
a wonderful moment of "so brauch ich Gewalt", without fear of sounding
ugly (the uglier this moment sounds the better). But the rest is not
that inspiring and the very ending is too theatrical ("das Kind war
TOTTTTT") and thus mars an entertaining version.
I don't like Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau too much since he explains and
acts Lieder more than he sings them but in theatrical Lieder like Erlkonig
this is a good artistic concept. His 1958 setting still is somewhat too
civil but in 1966/7 he lets himself loose (assisted by ever-reliable
Gerald Moore) and gives us a really grim portrait of a pretty sick
Erlkonig. This version is slightly better than the Graham Johnson
recording with Sarah Walker. Her singing is fine but Graham Johnson's
furious pianistic attack is what makes this version a treat (in his Franz
Schubert Lieder edition which is the treat of treats for all Schubertians).
The two best recording are by Christa Ludwig and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
and the pianist in both cases is Geoffrey Parsons. Both versions are
pretty short (Christa Ludwig 3:55 and Eliasabeth Schwarzkopf 3:46 -
compare this with Christoph Pregardien's 4:18) and furiously attack the
listener's ear. Parsons is splendid in both recordings, adding drive
and momentum to faboulously reckless singing. Christa Ludwig and Elisabeth
Schwarzkopf know no restrictions, they understand that Erlkonig is about
madness and frenzy and they fearlessly tell stories from a hysterically
gothic world. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's to me is the better recording
since her's the best Erlkonig portrait: her ghost is so sick and so full
of pleasure about his own sick wickedness that my hairs stand on end
every time I listen to it. This Glenn Glose of singers gave me the best
Erlkonig I know (but next week I am to buy Ian Bostridge's first Franz
Schubert Schubert CD - I expect a lot).
And which are your best Erlkonig recordings?
Robert
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