Hans Hotter was world famous for his mastery of lieder and especially for his performances of Schubert's haunting Winterreise. Andy places the later 1976 performance first on this set, rather a stroke of genius. By 1976 Hotter's voice had inevitably dried out a lot, but he was still more than capable of telling a great story. He and his accompanist Geoffrey Parsons make longer pauses between the songs than in 1947 that effectively allow the audience to catch its breath before continuing on with the journey. The earlier recording is magnificent. Hotter is in his freshest voice; there is nothing he can't express and his emotions in both versions are always very specific, never generalized. You haven't heard Winterreise until you've heard Hotter. There is little, if any, space allowed between the songs in the 1947 recording. Heinz Schroter begins the next song almost before he has finished playing the previous one. There's an air of angry impatience not hinted at in the 1976 version.The sound in both recordings is excellent. Ironically, the more recent 1976 concert is afflicted with periodic static zaps that last no more than a second or two, but are very jarring. The Wagner selections used to fill up the third disc preserve some of Hotter's finest work.For Hotter or Schubert fans, this is a must!

The 1976 performance would appear to be with the excellent Geoffrey Parsons at Fishmongers' Hall, London on 16th March 1976.The pianist in the 1947 version is HEINZ SCHROTER (not 'Hans Schorter'), a composer as well as pianist and -on the strength of this performance- a sensitive, contributory accompanist.Comparisons are fascinating for all the obvious reasons. 1947 HAS to "win" because Hotter's voice is simply astonishing and the interpretation is well on the way to what he would achieve in the mid-'50s with Gerald Moore.

Je connaissais les deux autres versions (Moore & Rauchheisen) mais il fait ça tellement bien qu'on ne s'en lasse jamais