Singers are sometimes understandably tempted to infuse Schubert’s “Winterreise” (“Winter Journey”) with melodramatic touches and theatrical poses. Schubert finished this cycle of 24 songs, depictions of loneliness, bleakly frozen landscapes and heartbreak, a few days before dying at 31, likely of complications from syphilis.
But during a performance at Alice Tully Hall on Tuesday evening the restraint and introspection demonstrated by the baritone Christian Gerhaher conveyed the despair of the young wanderer more acutely than any flamboyant gestures.
His understated approach rendered the carefully shaded dramatic arcs even more vivid, like the fervor with which he shaped the line “And the soft snow will melt away” in “Floodwater.”
Throughout, his singing was notable for its warmth, intimacy and tenderness. The beauty and purity of his smooth timbre were matched by the refinement of the pianist Gerold Huber, his longtime collaborator.
Introducing the concert, the pianist Wu Han, the co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, which presented the event, said Mr. Huber had the flu and would possibly need a short break during the performance. (He took a brief pause about halfway through the cycle.) Several bottles of water and a box of tissues were placed neatly on a small table beside the piano.
But his playing revealed no fatigue or uncertainty. Indeed, there was no rough edge or careless note throughout his graceful performance, his pearly sound and nuanced phrasing a perfect complement to Mr. Gerhaher’s elegant singing. The duo’s control of sound and tonal shading proved impressive throughout the performance, which drew the listener in with its gentle emotion.
The only rough sounds during the evening were the noisy rustlings as myriad listeners simultaneously turned pages of the libretto, a distraction that seemed to disrupt the performer’s intended flow. On several occasions, it appeared that Mr. Huber had planned to segue immediately into an ensuing song but had to wait for the swooshing papers to silence. Surtitles would have been a preferable choice for this song cycle, an introspective journey that needs no additional sound effects.
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