Mark Padmore Sings Winterreise
March 18, 2024
* Notes *
Tenor Mark Padmore sang Schubert's Winterreise at Cal Performances yesterday afternoon. Accompanied by the pianist Mitsuko Uchida ( pictured with Padmore, photograph by Justin Pumfrey) we were taken on an intense journey with these 24 songs.
Padmore has a bright voice and clear German diction. He was able to convey the text not only through his enunciation but by coloring the notes, the meaning felt completely obvious. I liked how he could sound like a perfectly pretty bell but also get across the passion of the words. There were times when his intonation was inexact, but this heightened the drama of these lieder rather than detracting from the piece. Uchida's playing was clean and supportive.
Der Lindenbaum and Die Post were particularly strong. The former starts with such sweetness, and turns darker and more strident, and then back. It was sad that during this performance the song began with a cellular phone ringing and had so much rustling of programs before it ended that Uchida hushed the audience. It was maddening given how beautiful and engaging the performance was.
* Tattling *
The performance started 15 minutes late, as it had no intermission. The audience was embarrassing. The person next to me in Row D fell asleep three or four times, jerking awake and shaking not only her seat but the ones around her. There was so much electronic noise, throughout, the worst of which was a phone that rang five times during the last song.