Andrè Schuen, Highness and Heir in Vilabertran (★★★★✩)

33rd Schubertíada of Vilabertran ★★★★✩ Performers: Andrè Schuen, baritone. Daniel Heide, piano. Place and date : Canònica de Vilabertran (08/21/25) A baritone in his prime, heir to the finest Germanic lieder tradition, Andrè Schuen (b. 1984) has become His Highness of the Vilabertran Schubertiade. With Mathias Goerne on the golden path of his retirement, Schuen, who this Thursday marked his 10th performance at the canonical festival, reaffirms his position with his velvety instrument of unctuous phrasing and perfect diction as the ideal generational successor. This is a festival that is addictive both for its audience and for the artists who visit it year after year, and no one can deny the evidence: Schuen is the favorite. Read also Anna Lucia Richter and Julius Drake (★★★✩✩): from soprano to mezzo Jordi Maddaleno The South Tyrolean singer has shared with the Ampurdan audience an evolution that has led him to his current vocal state, where the fluidity of his delivery, the technical control of his range, and the nobility of a timbre, typical of the chosen few, translate into unmissable performances like this one. The beauty of his honeyed baritone color prevailed, serene and nostalgic, with pulpy bass notes of great effect. The evening began with six lieder by R. Strauss, where the beauty of his honeyed baritone prevailed, serene and nostalgic, with powerfully rich bass notes. For example, a Ständchen, Op. 17/2, somewhere between autumnal and effervescent in expression, a consummate artist. He closed the first half with a touchstone, Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder . It was the finest tribute to the baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, whose centenary this year, and the Schubertiad has included this recital as a reminder of the great singer, a beacon of light for liederists of all subsequent generations. An image of the canon of Santa Maria de Vilabertran during the concert Mireia Prats The mastery of sound, with regulators of astonishing clarity, the clean phrasing, without affectations, allowing the beauty of the timbre to flow, and a sonorous placidity full of nocturnality and reverie, made his reading a model of interpretation. The second half opened with Alexander von Zemlinsky's Turnmwächterlied und andere Gesänge, Op. 8, which had not been performed at the festival. Here, Schuen and the always empathetic and impeccable Daniel Heide captured the composer's bold color and style. The originality of the composition, which plays with tonality, harmonic artifice, and the modernity of the former teacher and father-in-law of Arnold Schoenberg, thus had two exemplary performers. Read also Catalan talent finally opens Vilabertran Jordi Maddaleno With some signs of fatigue in the higher register, Schuen concluded his Liederabend with six more lieder by R. Strauss, another canonical reading supported by a lustrous instrument. Emission, articulation, and projection merged into a final Morgen! of infinite silence.