Kaufmann and pianist Helmut Deutsch take a brisk no-nonsense approach to Dichterliebe, eschewing the poetic affectations that can mar readings of Schumann's cycle...There's not a foot-fault from either artist in the rarely performed Kerner-Lieder that follow.

Kaufmann and Deutsch prove an impeccable Lieder duo in Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Kerner-Lieder, and there is an extraordinary bonus recording of six songs from Dichterliebe made at the very start of Kaufmann’s career in 1994. Who knew that he ever sounded like that?

I’d happily have listened to 1994 Kaufmann singing the complete Dichterliebe, for there are many attractive qualities here - though this bright lyric tenor is unrecognisable as the dark-voiced singer who would triumph as Siegmund and Parsifal two decades later. And of course all of the qualities which make the mature voice so special are firmly in evidence on the 2020 recordings, with Helmut Deutsch working tiny miracles in every postlude.

Kaufmann’s tenor is largely as it should be: full of expression, dynamically varied, masterfully delicate when the occasion warrants...your heart is tugged by Kaufmann’s peerless control in quiet moments and sensitivity to every word, even when the poetry itself isn’t necessarily wonderful. There is also the sensitive piano playing of Helmut Deutsch, his piano partner throughout: they make a terrific team.

The clarity and purpose in every word of Dichterliebe is just stunning. To hear Kaufmann launch himself into the upper "ossias", the top G in “ganz und gar gesund” in the fourth song and, even better, the exultant top A in “die Schlang", die dir am Herzen frisst” has made my week.