It might as well be spring

Obsessive that I am, I am a person of ritual. Perhaps it was being brought up Catholic. There are certain things in my life that happen on a regular basis and if they were gone, I'm not sure how I would function.

I have little rituals with music. No November would be right if I didn't start to play through my collection of Handel's Messiah (yes I know it is a Lenten piece, but like most of the rest of the world, I listen to it a Christmas). Holy Week means the Matthew Passion. Sometime deep in January or February I have to listen to Winterreise.

Although we don't actually have seasons here in Florida, spring means it's time for Die schöne Müllerin. There is nothing specifically about spring in the text, but the nature references and "green" imagery, make me feel like spring. The constant flowing of the brook says renewal and hope.

To my ear, only a tenor sounds right in this music. A baritone (except perhaps a young Fischer-Dieskau) sounds too heavy. My favorite interpreter is probably Aksel Schiotz. His bright and beautiful voice illuminates the text, but in an understated way. No overbearing underlining in this interpretation, but an allowance that the music can essentially speak for itself, as long as the singer is sensitive to it.

Oh, yes, and Gerald Moore is pretty good too.