“Um Mitternacht” offers Wolf-like rhetoric in the piano version, and real drama, undercut by the insecurity of the short lines and Genz’s careful shading. He conveys the uncertainty and panic behind this midnight rush for faith, in the dark, alone. The pairing strikes just the right note for each cycle, while the early narrative or character songs are not undersold. It is all top-notch vocal artistry, with Mahler rethought. The balance of adolescent self-consciousness, self-dramatization, and sheer wonder at the world, which Mahler composed into the Wayfarer songs is perfectly conveyed, while the quietism of the walk in the sun in “Ging heut’ Morgen” adds new layers of sensitivity to the familiar Fischer-Dieskau imprint. What surpassingly magnificent music this is, and what a superbly intelligent display of Western high-art at its most poignant from Genz and Vignoles. I just can’t stop playing the disc. Endless pleasure, endless sorrow, endless beauty."

Paul Ingram, FANFARE