Schubert: The Complete Secular Choral Works

Assuredly, this seven-disc set of Schubert's complete secular choral works will appeal only to the hardest of hardcore fans of the Viennese composer. But for them, the 132 selections here will be just the thing to fill out their collections of Schubert's vocal works. Recorded in 1995 and 1996 with Erwin Ortner leading the Arnold Schoenberg Choir of Vienna along with a host of first-rate soloists like alto Angelika Kirchschlager and tenor Christoph Prégardien and pianists like András Schiff and Andreas Staier, the collection is brilliantly divided into seven different programs, one per disc. Thus, we have discs dedicated to Transience, Love, Eternity, Heroism, Nature, Celebrations, and Circle of Friends. This allows the listener to enjoy an uninterrupted flow of works devoted to festivities, including Am Geburtsatage des Kaisers (On the Birthday of the Emperor) and Kantate zur Namensfeier des Vaters (Cantata for the Name-Day of the Father), or to evanescence, including Das Grab (The Grave), Grab und Mond (Grave and Moon), and Totengräberlied (Gravedigger's Song). For the most part, of course, these works are not top-drawer Schubert, though there are obvious exceptions, like the exquisite Ständchen (Serenade) and the sublime Gesang des Geister über den Wassern (Song of the Spirits over the Water). But so persuasive are the performances and so enjoyable are the pieces that true Schubert lovers will have to hear all seven discs, though perhaps not all in a row.