Years ago, in an effort to avoid common critical clichés, I swore I’d never invoke “King Lear” to suggest an artistic Gradus ad Parnassum. (A common example would be “Rose in Gypsy is the King Lear for musical theater actresses.”)

So, I will not say that Schubert’s Winterreise is “the King Lear of song cycles”—even though it gets a couple of things right: first, that Winterreise is indeed a work of grandeur, as well as a considerable interpretive challenge…

Read the full review at Parterre Box.