12-03-2020 Vltava cz
"Adamova’s mezzo-soprano possesses a reliable bel canto technique. However, one can hear more than classical opera singing on the album — the soft wordplay is supported by multifaceted declamation, melismatic ornamentation of certain vowels, or simply half-whispered words, and bending of intonation with small intervalic deviations. These are things which do come into play in classical music but, in a way, also transcend it. Bella Adamova possesses too the gift of dramatic delivery — she can develop a text to its climax and give it a certain theatrical expressivity, when it’s appropriate. The lion’s share of the overall sound is taken care of by the mysterious and introspective piano of Michael Gees, who managed to react with sensibility to the delicate nuances of the voice with a gossamer dynamic and extraordinary colourfulness across the registers."
21-02-2020 Fanfare
"Conveyed with dignity but with little nostalgia by both Prégardien and Gees."
19-02-2020 American Record Guide
"Since the first time I heard him many years ago I have been enamored of Christoph Pregardien’s voice. It is sweet and supple. His readings are almost always spot-on. His partnership with Michael Gees has been fruitful over the years.
"
18-02-2020 Fanfare
"This will be on my Want List at the end of the year. Don’t wait until the end of the year, though—hear it now!"
29-11-2019 Scherzo
"In his interpretation of the famous lieder cycle [Dichterliebe], he still follows a very vitalistic approach where he joins a youthful excitment to a flawless knowledge of each text inflection... the voice has less flexibility than before but it has gained in breadth and scale, which are ideal features for Wagner's Wesendonklieder... [Lenau-Lieder] Pregardien wonderfully conveys the composer's fragility and intensity, thanks to a most refined technique - impressive is the quality of the pianissimi in every pitch - and an impeccable elocution. Michael Gees, careful partner with a beautiful tone, plays a meaningful role in this recording great lyrical flying."
21-02-2019 Operalounge
"The horn is then also the connecting instrument to the other titles of the recording."
15-02-2019
"This duo -already performing together for decades- is so relaxed on stage."
"They provoke each other in Loewe’s hyper virtuose 'Der Nöck."
"Christoph Pregardiens voice sounds so natural, that you get the impression that there was never any teacher necessary.
"
07-09-2018 DAS ORCHESTER
"The fact that this CD is a matter of the heart of the three musicians cannot be overheard ... and the expectations ... are certainly fully fulfilled."
03-08-2018 OUVERTURE
"Tenor, horn and piano - that was a combination that was made for the Romantics!...a small but attractive selection."
19-01-2018 Luister
"Darbellay emphatically comes forward. The horn player sings a full-fledged song. I do not think that is a crazy choice. It gives an enormous power of expression. This without the horn dominating. Both Gees on the piano and tenor Prégardien offer more than enough counterweight."
15-12-2017 Fono Forum
"Gees, for whom free improvisation has obviously been a matter of the heart since his Wunderkind years, does all this in style, with great artistry and sensitive fantasy."
01-12-2017 Luister
"Classical music as a jam session. What binds Bach and Mendelssohn even more, is above all the creativity and ingenuity of Gees himself. The effect is a beautiful and rich whole, and more than a series of beautifully played pieces."
14-11-2017 Kerk & Leven
"Good music can't be placed in boxes, but deserves to be approached with imagination. And that's what Gees does with great dedication on this CD."
01-12-2016 Luister
"(...) really feel a symbiosis with Michael and with the audience (...)"
02-08-2016 Basia Con Fuoco
"Michael Gees is definetely enjoying this as much as the singers. Just as the listeners. A lovely album!"
06-03-2016 Klassiek Centraal
""The songs all bath in an enigmatic, sensitive atmosphere, breathe nostalgia and melancholy. The piano accompaniment is soft-romantic, but at the same time contemporary-sober, which the voice supports.""
01-03-2016 Fono Forum
""...one can only be enchanted by her voice: a girlishly bright organ, able to add gravity in timbre if necessary..." "While listening, time occasionally stands still.""
21-02-2016 Klara's
""They break through the song cycle not just with arty folk songs of Brahms and British and with their own, insanely beautiful improvisations on other texts of Eichendorff.""
30-12-2015 Opera Nederland
"3***
["]..Anna Lucia Richter however sings beautifully. She has a beautiful , lyrical soprano , reminiscent in the middle register with Felicity Lott . She sings with charm , expression and love and respect for the compositions. Possibly a CD with only " Extempore " would be even more interesting. The CD booklet contains a woolly, quasi- philosophical essay by the performers themselves.""
14-12-2015 NRC Handelsblad
""Richters special, slender and yet deep voice captivates from beginning to end, her diction is phenomenal.""
05-12-2015 De Hand Van Guido
"4****
"That Richter has much more to offer than a groomed voice, becomes clear when listening to her debut-cd. In a flash of inspiration she sings Schumann's 12-part cycle Liederkreis Op. 39 completely to pieces.”
“Michael Gees is, besides being an outstanding accompanist, a gifted creator of atmosphere. His piano becomes a magic harp that radiates arounds Richter’s sound.”
"
02-12-2015 Volkskrant
"4****
"That Richter has much more to offer than a groomed voice, becomes clear when listening to her debut-cd. In a flash of inspiration she sings Schumann's 12-part cycle Liederkreis Op. 39 completely to pieces.”
“Michael Gees is, besides being an outstanding accompanist, a gifted creator of atmosphere. His piano becomes a magic harp that radiates arounds Richter’s sound.”
"
01-12-2015 BR Klassik
"With their free thinking, intelligent and protomusical performance these two artists lead the way back to the folk songs core."
01-06-2015 Klassieke Zaken
"Interview: "We were in a welcoming living room", says Gees. "That made the difference, then you are at ease and it soon becomes very personal."
And that made a remarkable honest, candid and varied piano plate which also sounds fantastic.
"
27-04-2015 Musicweb
"'‘Father and Son’ features the great tenor Christoph Prégardien and his son Julian. They perform a generous selection of arrangements for two voices and piano of songs by some of the great lieder composers, and some by less familiar figures.'"
21-04-2015 Opera Magazine
""Michael Gees has with his music as much fun as the singers. The listener has fun too. A wonderful cd!"
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20-04-2015 NRC Handelsblad
"“Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willeke Alberti, Christa Ludwig - in all genres one will find singing parents with children singing as well. Christoph Prégardien also carried the torch to his son Julien (also a tenor) and it's a treat to hear how they handle Schubert's father-son ballad Erlkönig . The normal role sung by one singer is now a real dialogue between the feverish delirious son and the appeasing father - until death follows.
Not coincidentally, the accompanist and arranger here is pianist Michael Gees; one of the few 'free' classical musicians who conceive the Iron Repertoire in a flexible way. Gees deals with composed music as free as the composers themselves did, in a time where creation and performing were one.”"
03-02-2015 Diapason
"5 tuning-forks (diapasons)!
"The trio breathes like one. Julian, Christoph and the faithful Michael Gees carve the details without freezing the spontaneity of the gesture.""
08-01-2015 WAZ
"An unconventional as well as brilliant project. The result of the recording summarized into 77 exciting minutes of music. A real personal tip."
06-01-2015 WDR TonArt
"The intonation is flawless, they breath jointly and phrase neatly. A benefaction for the ears."
31-12-2014 De Volkskrant
"4**** stars
"Christoph and Julian make sure that sentiment never flows into sentimentality. But they do not hide the fact that they enjoy doing this very much, senior with his refined voice, junior with his very promising glow."
"
03-03-2014 Luister
"Gees and Prégardien understand each other exactly in small liberties in tempo and dynamic accents"
01-11-2013 Pizzicato
"The quality of the musical recording and the video is distinguished, which is another advantage of this considerable recording. "