Schubertiade Hohenems 2025: Jussen Brothers & Gerhaher-Huber

Glorious summer weather set the perfect tone for Day 3 of the July Schubertiade in Hohenems, promising a day rich in excitement and artistry; and the audience was not disappointed.

The afternoon session featured the Dutch piano duo of Lucas and Arthur Jussen, a sibling act celebrated for their seamless synchronicity and vibrant interpretations. And the day concluded with what is often referred to as “the world’s greatest song partnership” in baritone Christian Gerhaher and pianist Gerold Huber in a programme exclusively dedicated to Robert Schumann.

Lucas and Arthur Jussen at Schubertiade Hohenems 2025

Refined Artistry

Hailing from a musical family in Hilversum, with a flutist mother and a timpanist father, the Jussen brothers began performing as a duo in early childhood. In 2010, they signed with Deutsche Grammophon, a rare feat for artists so young. Their interpretation are often noted for their technical precision and emotional nuance, attributes well represented in their performance of the Peer-Gynt-Suite No. 1 by Edvard Grieg and the demanding Six Morceaux by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Unsurprisingly, everybody was looking forward to their performance of the Schubert Fantasia in F minor, a cornerstone of the piano duet repertoire. Their performance was marked by a profound internalisation of the work, played from memory with eyes often closed, enhancing their concentration and delivering a deeply personal rendition.

With almost surgical precision, they dissected and then reassembled Schubert’s complex score, conveying the music as if it were invented as they played. There certainly was an almost coquettish element present, particularly in the mock-fugal section, where the brothers navigated Schubert’s deceptive structural shifts without overemphasising the drama, thus preserving the work’s subtle melancholy. In all, it was a rather polite performance that might have benefited from more visceral intensity.

Lucas and Arthur Jussen perform Schubert: Fantasia in F minor

Poetic Odyssey

For over 30 years, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber have participated in a lasting and intense musical dialogue that has propelled them to the loftiest heights of Lied interpretation. Gerhaher’s honeyed voice combines flawless diction and a compelling gift for narrative, while Huber invariably proves a sentient and wonderfully intuitive partner.

The infrequently heard Schumann Liederkeis, Op. 24 has long stood as a beacon of Gerhaher’s interpretive artistry, as he once again captured the cycle’s delicate balance of romantic fervour and introspective yearning. Gerhaher rendered each song a vivid tableau of longing, mystery, and fleeting joy, with his meticulous phrasing and dynamic control revealing the inner life of Schumann’s music.

Gerhaher’s ability to inhabit the shifting moods of the cycle, as he moved effortlessly from serene contemplation to ardent passion, lent the performance a narrative coherence that felt both inevitable and revelatory. Frequent substitution of words did not detract from what turned out to be a poetic odyssey that was intellectually compelling and deeply moving.

Gerhaher’s approach to the Liederkreis Op. 24, the more famous “Dichterliebe,” and a set of Balladen and Romanzen was not merely vocal but profoundly textual, treating the poetry as a living narrative. Gerhaher has the uncanny ability to make every word resonate with personal anguish.

Huber’s pianism, sensitive yet authoritative, mirrored Gerhaher’s nuanced phrasing and created a seamless dialogue that underscored the music’s emotional architecture. In the emotionally gripping postludes, Huber turned the poetic essence into a poignant instrumental summary.

The synergy between Gerhaher and Huber, a partnership honed over decades, produced a triumph of understated intensity.