Samuel Haselhorn: Schubert Hoffnung Review – Tingular and Emotional Flexibility in Plenty | classical music

nGerman baritone Samuel Hasselhorn, in his mid-30s, is a key player in a veritable group of talented young singers. His growing recordings include an ongoing series with pianist Emil Puschakewicz, part of Harmonia Mundi’s Schubert 200 project to record all of the composer’s songs, from 1823 onwards, before the bicentenary of his death in 2028.

The year 1826 found Schubert in a positive mood, a torrent of lies reflecting a new sense of optimism. Titled Hoffnung, the German word for hope, the album begins with a careful narration of the extended Im Freien song. The combination of Hasselhorn’s communicative style and Buchavitz’s poetic phrasing lends an intimate touch to this six-minute celebration of nocturnal beauty.

A similar timbral and emotional flexibility is abundant across a wide range of songs, including lyrical gems such as Alinde, Im Frühling and Der Wanderer an den Mond. While his voice is built on dark, chocolate-like foundations, Hasselhorn in the upper register is light and airy without resorting to crooning. Dramatic bangs reveal an iron fist in a velvet glove—try Über Wildemann’s winter revelry. By contrast, Fisherface exudes honest vitality. He even manages to breathe new life into old Shakespearean chestnuts like Who is Sylvia? And hark! Listen! Lark!

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