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Russell Braun's Recording of Schubert's
song cycle Winterreise Receiving Rave Reviews!
 Russell
Braun and pianist Carolyn Maule's much-awaited
recording of Schubert's great
song cycle Winterreise was released on September 15, 2024 and has
been flooded with accolades ever since.
Russell Braun's Winterreise chosen
as No. 2 on the top 10 Best Recordings of 2005 according to New
York's Newsday
"A searching
musician, Braun also has one of the world's most beautiful baritone
voices. He brings a poet's soul and a young man's bewildered grief
to Schubert's shattering cycle of solitude and loss." (Newsday,
25 December 2024)
Reviews
"One is struck first by the sheer beauty of his
voice; it has much the same warmth and honeyed sheen of Fischer-Dieskau's
but with a darker and more burnished sound. He sings with a great
suppleness and a gorgeous legato that produces a superb caressing
of the words. Braun has glowing top notes and an even timbre across
the two octaves of these songs. He employs a greater range of contrasting
dynamics than any of the singers on the 18 recordings I compared."
(American Record Guide, March/April 2006)
Read the full American
Record Guide review 
"The January 2005 recording by Canadian baritone and Russell Braun
and pianist Carolyn Maule goes up against this formidable competition
[Fischer-Dieskau and Goerne], as well an estimable Winterreise by
Braun's late father, Victor, a distinguished Met Onegin and Golaud.
Braun fils's effort emerges with considerable credit...a mellifluous,
musical and strongly felt interpretation... His finely honed instrument
is placed higher than his father's, with an almost tenorish ease
on top, but the substantial low notes audible in "Gefror'ne Tränen"
(for one) show that he, too, may eventually sing roles such as Golaud.
... Braun's unpretentiously moving singing is supported with articulate
sensitivity and fine, clear tone by pianist Maule, his wife." (Opera
News, January 2006)
Read the full Opera
News review
"Russell Braun may be better known as an opera singer, but over
the last few years, he's blossomed into a great lieder and recital
singer, too. Here, in Die Winterreise, he convincingly captures
the despair, loneliness and frustration of the young, jilted lover,
without ever over-sentimentalizing. Braun has a wide range of vocal
colours from which to draw, and they're used beautifully depending
on the circumstance and need. Pianist Carolyn Maule comes into her
own on this disc. She proves here that she's a pianist to watch,
with subtle and detailed work that enhances, supports, comments
and concludes. This is a classic and classical account of Die Winterreise.
*****" (CBC Sound Advice, 4 December 2024)
"This Canadian entry in a crowded Winterreise CD market was a brave
undertaking, but the result is superb. The baritone's applications
of rubato are sparing, and all the more effective for that reason.
He is especially strong when Schubert's vocal line drives wildly
over close to two octaves in a single phrase, as happens several
times. When, at the end of "Auf dem Flusse", the piano takes over
the main tune because the singer/hero seems choked up, both artists
convey the connection perfectly. Maule has an extraordinary grasp
of the images in the piano part." (WholeNote,
December 2005)
"Russell Braun's eagerly awaited account is superb in every way,
notable for its smooth legato, a consistent and ravishingly beautiful
tone throughout the vocal range, clear enunciation and impeccable
pitch." (Opera Canada, November/ December
2005)
Read the full Opera
Canada review
"This is a nicely nuanced interpretation. Braun's voice is richer
than Fischer-Dieskau's." (Toronto Star, December
1, 2005)
"Baritone Russell Braun has a fine, resonant voice, and the accompaniment
by his wife, Canadian pianist Carolyn Maule, is all one would want."
(Regina Leader-Post, 16 December 2024)
"There is much warmth in the performances...in this beautifully
sung and played version of this greatest of song cycles." (Ottawa
Citizen, 22 October 2024)
**Also selected as one of the Best Classical Recordings of 2005**
For more information on how to order the CD, please visit www.cbcrecords.ca
For hear selections from the CD, go to
the Music Selections page.
Last Updated: September 18, 2024
© 2025 Moira Johnson Consulting, All Rights Reserved
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