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