Christoph Prégardien (tenor) & Andreas Staier\n(fortepiano)

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The eminent lyric tenor Christoph Prégardien is represented on\ndisc with more than a hundred and twenty titles. His recordings of\nthe German Romantic Lied repertoire have been highly acclaimed by\npublic and press alike and have received many major international\nawards. He recently began a new long-term collaboration with\nChallenge Classics, the first fruit of which was a recording of\nSchubert’s “Schöne Müllerin” with pianist Michel Gees,\n(CC72292).

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On this recording of another of Schubert’s great lieder cycles,\n“Schwanengesang”, he is joined by the highly-regarded pianist\nAndreas Staier.

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Written in August 1828 shortly before his death, the 14 songs by\nFranz Schubert given the collective title of “Schwanengesang” by\nhis publisher Tobias Haslinger are in reality made up of two sets.\nThere are seven songs on texts by Ludwig Rellstab and six on texts\nby Heinrich Heine in a common manuscript along with a single Lied,\nDie Taubenpost, on a poem by his friend Gabriel Seidl (D 965 A).\nDie Taubenpost is perhaps Schubert’s last song, possibly even his\nlast complete composition of all, although Der Hirt auf dem Felsen\nwas apparently also written in October 1828. The Viennese poet\nGabriel Seidl was the source of a whole series of poetic texts that\nSchubert set to music between 1826 and 1828. Some of these were\nsolo lieder and some were polyphonic songs.

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