Decorated by BBC Music Magazine (Five Stars), Pizzicato (Supersonic Award), Die Bühne (CD of the Month), Fono Forum (Five Stars) and Kulturradio rbb (CD of the Week).
Recommended by Gramophone, BR Klassik, Musik & Theater, Rondo, Orpheus, Salzburger Nachrichten and Abendzeitung.
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Arias and Overtures
Daniel Behle, tenor
L’Orfeo Barockorchester
Michi Gaigg, conductor
Arias, Romances and Overtures from: Die Zauberharfe D 644*,
Claudine von Villa Bella D 239, Die Freunde von Salamanka D 326*,
Adrast D 137, Lazarus D 689, Alfonso und Estrella D 732,
Fierrabras D 796 and Das Zauberglöckchen D 723*
* including first recordings
(deutsche harmonia mundi / Sony Music 2017)
If anybody is capable of convincingly retrieving Schubert’s honour as an opera composer then it is these artists!
Bayern Klassik, CD-Tipp, Ursula Adamski-Störmer, 2 June 2017[…] Daniel Behle is a thoughtful interpreter, too, with a Lieder singer’s care for words, and finds as much individual character as the music allows, including a twinkling sense of humour in a cynical buffo aria from Die Freunde von Salamanka. Under Michi Gaigg’s lively direction, the Orfeo Baroque Orchestra are responsive accompanists (plaudits to the first oboe and first clarinet in their many carolling dialogues with the singer), and on their own give vigorous and colourful performances of the splendid overtures to Die Zauberharfe and Alfonso.
Gramophone, Richard Wigmore, November 2017This is Behle’s most important – and most beautiful – CD to date […] Also the L’Orfeo Barockorchester […] performs superbly.
Kulturradio rbb, Highest score: 5/5, Kai Luehrs-Kaiser, 6 June 2017Landmark
No one has played Schubert like this since Harnoncourt: defiant, with accented rhythms, and yet with a warm and soft sound, even beguiling if need be. The excellent woodwind section underlines these striking sound mixtures […] Yet it isn’t only the sound of this new Schubert CD which makes you sit up: the repertoire […] and then also a certain voice […]: Daniel Behle
Musik & Theater, Reinmar Wagner, July 2017Its performance instantly announces the superior period-instrument playing of L’Orfeo Barockorchester under Michi Gaigg, with characterful string tone and a wide range of dynamics and colour all finely captured in this recording: wind, brass and timpani, too, are interpretatively and sonically vivid.
BBC Music Magazine, 5 stars, George Hall, October 2017With this recently released CD of arias Schubert’s unmistakable ingenuity as a stage composer is proven, especially when a singer like Daniel Behle applies such impeccable tact and taste. His light and beautifully agile voice perfectly suits the musical diction […] Added to this voice is a congenial orchestra with vibrant drive. The L’Orfeo Barockorchester directed by Michi Gaigg easily holds its stand among the very best. Fabulous.
Salzburger Nachrichten, Karl Harb, 4 July 2017[…] And then Michi Gaigg and the brilliantly qualified L’Orfeo Barockorchester appear on the scene: the succinct timbres of the period instruments breathe life into a true paradise of colours. Their approach in the Overtures to „Zauberharfe“ and „Alfonso und Estrella“ is slightly firmer and underlines the symphonic quality between Classical tradition and Romantic innovation. All in all a magnificent introduction to a hitherto underestimated part of Schubert’s oeuvre.
RONDO – Das Klassik & Jazz Magazin, Michael Wersin, 10 June 2017A strong plea for Schubert’s operatic oeuvre.
Abendzeitung, 1 July 2017The quality of these works by Schubert is undeniable. Daniel Behle proves this with a CD in which this level is brilliantly codetermined by the L’Orfeo Barockorchester directed by Michi Gaigg.
Orpheus, 1 July 2017With some premiere recordings of Schubert arias this CD provides great musical pleasure. Even though these pieces do not belong to Schubert’s best and most famous, the excellent performances guarantee an unforgettable listening experience.
Pizzicato, Highest score: Supersonic, Alain Steffen, 10 July 2017
