Although we admire him for his song recitals, we were thrilled to see him on the roster at the Opéra De Paris singing Harlequin in Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos." (By the way, you don't want to miss Jane Archibald singing Zerbinetta). Performances begin tonight and run through the end of the month. You can watch a highlight video on their website.
Although opera is creeping onto his schedule, Crossley-Mercer still has plenty of lieder on his schedule. He has performed critically acclaimed renditions of Schubert's Winterreise at Bayreuth and at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, prompting one reviewer to call it the definitive portrayal of our time.
You can hear him perform "Auf dem Flusse" from Winterreise by clicking HERE and Frühlingstraum by clicking HERE. There are also a number of clips on YouTube, including this rendition of Taüschung.
Schubert singing doesn't get much better than this.
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The performance by Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Ariadne auf Naxos has been most exquisitely summarised in an article written by Monsieur Hoffelé for Concertclassic a few days ago, so I shall not repeat the content here. However, it should give you further insight into the progressive upward trend of this gentleman's art who is most unquestionably one of today's top baritones with exceptional vocal improvement yet ahead of him; he has not reached his zenith by a long chalk. I saw him at Orsay and the statement made above is not at all out of place. He will continue to perfect his technique and voice, because he works indefatigably at his art.
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