It takes Schade until the fourth song in the cycle, which is called Danksagung an den Bach (Giving thanks to the Brook), when he begins to capture the tone of the remaining songs. From then on each song is given its full measure, and Schade is in total control. It must also be said that his accompanist, Malcolm Martineau on piano, is excellent and gives full support to Schade, without ever taking the spotlight from the singer.

The song cycle, by the way, is set to poems by the Prussian poet Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827), who had just as short a life as Schubert. The composer set the poems to music in 1823, just two years after they had been published. While Schade sings them in the original German, Müller's poems deserve a better translation into English than given in the liner notes. They are robbed of much of their poetic value. I cannot comment on the French translation, which is also included.

Despite my complaints, this is an excellent recording of good sound quality. I have no doubt that Schubert aficionados will like this one very much. And it must be stressed that the proceeds of the CD support Leukemia Research at the McMaster University for Neurological Disorders.