Total vocal mastery: Dvořák and Schumann Lieder from Christian Gerhaher

In the first of four Schumann recitals, the regular duo partners treat a packed Wigmore Hall to a glorious evening of Lieder. 

The German baritone and his frequent recital collaborator perform tragic evocations of insanity in Lenau settings with intense impact.

The pleasure of Gerhaher’s comforting persona and his instinctive convergence with Huber’s pianism won over the Wigmore Hall audience – as they invariably do.

A programme of Schubert and Berg Lieder are sung with ultimate mastery, albeit the programme goes long on melancholy and short on variety.

Whether one prefers more raw emotion and large-scale architecture or is thrilled by perfectly sculpted individual masterpieces, this was undeniably chamber music of the highest order.

Huber’s morbid piano here was chilling and pointed the way to a harrowing finale that never quite materialised.