Riko Fukuda - Schubert: Schwanengesang, D. 957 (2021)

Baritone Jasper Schweppe says of this new recording:

"I often wonder what Schubert might have composed if he had he lived longer. According to Otto Erich Deutsch, who catalogued Schuberts compositions, Schubert composed nine hundred and eighty-eight works, including eight symphonies, ten overtures, fifteen string quartets and three piano trios, as well as Masses and other choral works, operas and, of course, some six hundred songs. An almost improbable quantity of music, a large part of which was composed during times of illness and financial difficulty.

Schubert sent a collection of songs to his publisher in Leipzig six weeks before his death; they had no clear order and were probably not intended to form a cycle like Die schone Mullerin and Winterreise. His publisher most probably grouped the songs together under the title Schwanengesang because of Schuberts untimely death and also added the song Die Taubenpost to the collection.

When I first began work on Schwanengesang and explored it in depth, I was struck by the lightness and freshness of Die Taubenpost, a bright and uninhibited song about a young man who sends a carrier pigeon to his beloved.

My discovery of Die Taubenpost was like a sudden revelation and inspired me to explore all of Schuberts songs. I have now set myself the goal of recording all six hundred or so of his songs, although it will certainly be several years before this tremendously exciting project is complete.

This CD is one of its first fruits."