Description
Die Schöne Müllerin was recorded in 1943 by the German state broadcaster Reichs-Rundfunk. Patzak's accompanist in this recording is Michael Raucheisen. There is a certain sense of brooding despair in Patzak's performance of Die schöne Müllerin: brief rebellion soon turns to resignation. Although it may not be to everyone's taste, this interpretation is exceptionally dense and convincing in its bareness and immediacy. Winterreise was recorded in Vienna in March of 1964 after Patzak had already ended his active singing career. By that time he had lost much of his vocal freshness and vigour; he did not, however, try to compensate for this by forcing the voice but rather by bringing to bear his entire musical intelligence and maturity as a performer as
well as his life experience.