Konstantin Krimmel in overwhelming form for Schubert’s Birthday at Wigmore Hall, with a welcome group of Carl Loewe too

Friday 31 January 2025 was Schubert’s 228th birthday, and the celebrations at Wigmore Hall featured baritone Konstantin Krimmel and pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz in a programme of songs by Schubert and Carl Loewe. First we heard Schubert’s Der Wanderer D489, An den Mond D193, Hoffnung D637, Der Jüngling an der Quelle D300 and Auf der Donau D553, then Carl Loewe’s Herr Oluf Op. 2 No. 2, Der du von dem Himmel bist (Wandrers Nachtlied II) Op. 9, Erlkönig Op. 1 No. 3, Geisterleben Op. 9, and Der Totentanz Op. 44 No. 3, then finally Schubert’s Prometheus D674, Am Bach im Frühling D361, Der König in Thule D367, Totengräbers Heimweh D842, Gruppe aus dem Tartarus D583, Nachtstück D672, and Erlkönig D328.

It was a meaty programme with some substantial and powerful pieces, including a compare and contrast between Schubert and Loewe’s Erlkönig settings alongside other large-scale works that showcased Schubert far from the simply lyrical. And it was welcome to hear a substantial group of Loewe’s songs, including the first performance of Der Totentanz at Wigmore Hall.

Throughout the concert, it was impressive the way Krimmel brought so much character and intensity to the songs without ever distorting or breaking the vocal line. His darkly focused tone was finely fluid with intensity to it throughout, a great lower register and admirably easy top whilst the range of colours and timbres he brought to the music was enviable.

We began with Schubert. Der Wanderer was sober and serious, with lovely phrasing and of course superb words. Krimmel and Bushakevitz developed from nothing to fast intensity before the touchingly plangent conclusion. We moved straight from the wanderer to the moon, the suggestion being this wanderer addressed the moon in such beautifully floated, seductive tones, yet Bushakevitz piano was darkly characterful and there was urgency in the middle, but beauty returned. There was a sense of yearning to Hoffnung (Hope), but with an underlying seriousness. We continued our wanderer’s travels with Der Jüngling an der Quelle (the youth by the spring), light and focused with the performers drawing you in to the song end the ending, where the youth sighs for his love, pure magic. The final Schubert song in this group took us to the Danube, deceptively light at first but developing into something darker and intense.

We then moved on to Carl Loewe, born the year before Schubert but surviving for a further 40 years (imagine what 19th century music would have been like if Schubert had lived until 1870 or so!). He is known for his ballads, but there is a lot more to him. We began on relatively familiar territory, the ballad Herr Oluf, with it darkly magical seduction and threat from the Erlking’s realm. Bushakevitz brought vivid character to the piano introduction and throughout both artists gave a strong sense of story telling as Krimmel moved between characters, his singing full of contrasts, his Erlking’s daughter scarily seductive and Sir Oluf strong and resolute. So the light hearted wedding celebrations end suddenly and bleakly in death.

Then came the shorter, Der du von dem Himmel bist setting Goethe, sober yet with real lyric intensity. We then returned to the Erlking’s realm, for Loewe’s account of Goethe’s ballad, and it can be argued that Loewe’s account is truer to the poem, but it lacks the sheer terror of Schubert. Krimmel and Bushakevitz gave us strong character, vivid colours and powerful story telling, with vividly magical moments. The magic continued with Geisterleben where the focused otherworldly calm of Krimmel’s voice hovered over Bushakevitz’s lovely piano. Finally came the setting of Goethe’s Der Totentanz, lyrical yet full of character at first, but then as the dance started both performers giving us something of a musical and dramatic tour de force, the music with a sense of constant onward, inexorable pressure yet full of force of character.

We returned to Schubert after the interval for some of his large-scale knotty pieces, music that is hardly song at all. The Goethe setting, Prometheus had the feeling of an operatic accompanied recitative, with drama and vivid intensity along with a sense of darkness. The piece felt like one long, sustained speech with Krimmel holding us rapt until the end, and making serious, intent points until the defiant ending, confirming what we thought, that the piece was about defying the Gods. As a break, we had the quiet concentrated beauty of Am Bach im Frühling. Then we returned to Goethe for Der König in Thule , sober and thoughtful, but with a steady build throughout, Krimmel giving us some wonderfully resonant tone. The climax brought a thrilling combination of power and character, but then suddenly the performers fined things right down.

Totengräbers Heimweh (Gravedigger’s Longing) took us on a remarkable journey, from the urgent, yet relatively lighter early verses through bleakness to the restlessly questing yet profound beauty of the remarkable closing section. This was one of those performances that really made the transcendence of Schubert’s song register. And we stayed with that sense of the other with a setting of Schiller’s Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, which became a piece of concentrated drama with intense words and an underlying power and restlessness.

The setting of Mayrhofer’s Nachtstück (Nocturne) took us to a world of lyric beauty, yet still with a darkly concentrated sense. And we finished with a return to Erlkönig. Whilst Krimmel brought out the various characters, including the lighter, seductive wheedling Erlking himself, this was not one of those showy ‘funny voices’ performances. Instead we had focused story-telling and a steady intensity that built into something overwhelming.

Ammiel Bushakevitz, Konstantin Krimmel – Wigmore Hall (Image from Live Stream)

The near capacity audience was rightly enthusiastic. Krimmel’s performances were not operatic, though his voice has operatic amplitude, he remained firmly on the lieder platform, yet projected with a vivid sense of style and absorption. He did the entire programme from memory, so this really was from him to us, and with his fine diction and attention to colour, everything counted. 

We were treated to two encores, first the Mayrhofer setting Abendstern and then a return to the wanderer with the Goethe setting, Wanderers Nachtlied (Über allen Gipfeln).

And we even got to see the two performers’ matching Schubert-themed socks (see image to the right)

The concert was recorded and streamed by Wigmore Hall and is available on their website, though please do give a donation if you do watch. 

And if you want the recital for your own library, then their July 2024 release Mythos on Alpha Classics covers much of the same, overwhelming repertoire.