Sprechstimme and yodelling: Schubert’s birthday bash at Wigmore Hall

The Erlkings

Allan Clayton

By Mark Pullinger, 01 February 2026

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“seared into the soul with a branding iron”

Reviewed at Wigmore Hall, London on 31 January 2026

Schubert, Winterreise (W. Müller), D.911

Allan Clayton, Tenor

Paul Lewis, Piano

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Reviewed at Wigmore Hall, London on 31 January 2026

Schubert, Auf dem Wasser zu singen (Stolberg), D.774

Schubert, Der Jüngling am Bache (Schiller), D.192

Schubert, Erlkönig (Goethe), D.328

Schubert, Die Forelle (Schubart), D.550

Schubert, Danksagung an den Bach, D.795d

Schubert, Trockne Blumen, D.795r

Schubert, Gute Nacht, in D minor, D.911a

Schubert, Frühlingstraum, D.911k

Schubert, Gretchen am Spinnrade (Goethe), D.118

Schubert, An Silvia (Shakespeare), D.891

Schubert, Fischerweise (Schlechta), D.881

The Erlkings

Bryan Benner, Vocals, Guitar

Ivan Turkalj, Cello

Simon Teurezbacher, Tuba

Thomas Toppler, Drums, Vibraphone

Paul Lewis balances delicacy with power in understated RLPO Beethoven

Glyn Mon Hughes, 12th March

Understatement is key in Paul Lewis' interpretation of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Adam Hickox.

***11

Denève, Lewis and the Netherlands Radio Phil in Utrecht

Laurence Vittes, 23rd January

At TivoliVredenburg’s Grote Zaal: a program of Beethoven, Liszt, and Schumann that, intentionally or not, invited reflection on long-range musical continuity.

***11

Concerto Budapest delivers Beethoven with high-octane fire in Dublin

Andrew Larkin, 29th November

András Keller’s orchestra offers intensity, finesse and sheer dramatic sweep, from Tchaikovsky’s infernal tragedy to a Beethoven Fifth Symphony driven with exhilarating momentum.

****1

Magnificent Beethoven and Sibelius, intriguing Nørgård in Manchester

Peter Connors, 22nd March

Per Nørgård’s Eighth Symphony is the unusual opener in a programme of magnificent Beethoven and Sibelius from the BBC Philharmonic, Paul Lewis and John Storgårds at the Bridgewater Hall.

****1

Something close to perfection: Lewis, Storgårds and the BBC Phil

Phil Parker, 24th January

Though a perfect concert is hard to define, you know when you’ve attended one – and Beethoven and Shostakovich from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra provide the proof.

*****

Paul Lewis brings Schubert's late piano sonatas to Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 12th November

The British pianist reveals new ideas in the most familiar of music in this recital program, which concludes a multi-year return to Schubert's keyboard literature.

****1

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

From Sprechstimme to yodelling: Schubert’s birthday bash at Wigmore Hall