With all due respect to the very intelligent thoughts posted by the previous reviewer, I must disagree a bit. I would invite anyone to actually pick a song from this recording and compare it with pretty much any other version remembering that, yes, the cycle really was written for a tenor and I daresay that Schubert had that sound in mind. I think that you will find it significantly less “mannered” that pretty much anything else out there. Bostridge takes it fairly straight, with minimal (if any) operatic moments, no unnecessary slides or excessive bravado, and no bellowing. There are enough recordings of crooners and singers who believe that Schubert should be the German equivalent of Verdi. Yes, Bostridge is more restrained than most, but I believe the interpretation is quite valid and certainly effective here.
The previous reviewer mentioned a lot of big moments. I would take Ständchen as a better example, as it contains a good range of both pitch and dynamic. Bostridge’s tone is warm and inviting (as it should be for the text), doesn’t hold back when the moment calls for it, but also doesn’t jump to forte just because the notes go up the scale. It’s smart, not to mention incredibly beautiful. And you’d be hard pressed to find a German who seems to obviously chew and love the language like Bostridge does.
I’m not sure how it all would hold up in a recital hall (the piano is, as the previous reviewer notes, pretty restrained – delightfully so, in my opinion), but on a recording it creates some pretty magic moments. I’ll admit I generally like most of Bostridge’s recordings, but this one in particular stands out to me as being notably better than most others in a crowded list of Schwanengesang performers.