Schubert: Schwanengesang

Splendidly strong and powerfully carved out. (BBC Radio 3 CD Review)

English bass Matthew Rose shows that a deep voice and low keys need not make for a gloomy experience in Schubert. It helps that his voice has the scope for lyrical beauty – his entreaty to the fisher-girl in her boat is carried on phrases as smooth as a lakeside breeze – and that offsets his rugged strength. With pianist Malcolm Martineau chameleon-like in matching his singer’s colours, there are more than enough contrasts. **** (Financial Times)

In 1997 the British bass Matthew Rose attended a masterclass in which the work being studied was Aufenthalt, one of the more emotionally turbulent of the 14 songs from Schubert’s posthumous collection Schwanengesang (Swan Song). So affected was he, Rose determined to become a professional singer. He is now among the most musically illuminating of the new generation of basses, alert and perceptive in performance, as his Winterreise (for the same label) has already shown. Again here, with the pianist Malcolm Martineau, with whom Rose first sang the cycle in 2004, he ensures clear textures, sensitivity to the words and a lightness and variety of touch. There’s a charming bonus track: Schubert’s comic Der Hochzeitsbraten, with Christina Gansch and Robert Murray. **** (Observer)

For the pianist Malcolm Martineau’s second new recording of Schubert’s last songbook in as many months, Matthew Rose includes the “spare” Seidl setting Die Taubenpost (Pigeon Post) and a substantial bonus: the rare “operatic” scene Der Hochzeitsbraten (The Wedding Roast), with the excellent Christina Gansch and Robert Murray … his potential Wagnerian bass comes into its own in Kriegers Ahnung (Warrior’s Foreboding) and the great Heine settings Der Atlas and Der Doppelgänger. (Sunday Times)

One of the most powerful basses … and was, as usual with this singer, and this marvellous accompanist, Malcolm Martineau, soon enjoying myself without qualification. Rose’s voice may be best suited to the more boisterous songs, such as ‘Der Atlas’, but he can also be delicate without sounding precious, as in ‘Ständchen’ (Serenade) and the extra song ‘Die Taubenpost’ (The Pigeon Post). (BBC Music)