#214 The Smell of Spring

This piece of music is smiling, provoking to smile. All the echoing and repeats are organic, somehow rural and enjoyable. Very green and very sunny.

Northern Sinfonia has a wonderful sound, compact and bright, yet nicely subtle. Zehetmair is attentive and savvy.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Symphony No 6, I. Adagio – Allegro
Recording: Thomas Zehetmair, Northern Sinfonia

#145 The Smell of Honey

This piece is somehow sweet and dangerous. Its viscosity, its smoothness with little crystals, is so charming. The final disappearance is like the last drop of honey that almost drops and then backs off to the spoon.

Kremer and Maisenberg deliver a focused, sharp performance with wonderful dynamic levels.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Rondo Brillant D895, I. Andante
Recording: Gidon Kremer, Oleg Maisenberg

#142 The Smell of Forest

This picture is so vivid: green forest, and an animal running so quickly we have difficulties to trace it. It's not a hunt, this is a run for pleasure, and everything is so lively and in harmony. We try to second, to run–we're clumsy but the music is urging us, and we achieve unimaginable.

Young Maazel is a devil, constantly pushing and inspiring. This is a famous recording.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Symphony No 4, IV. Allegro
Recording: Berliner Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel

#132 The Smell of Expectation

Das Wandern! What a goal without a goal, what a call! It's a plain text but together with the melody we have a masterpiece here. Very joyful, dancing and yet with a subtle sad tone.

Wunderlich is setting the picture so vividly I want to go walking right now. To get walking, fall in love and be romantic.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Die Schöne Müllerin, I. Das Wandern
Recording: Fritz Wunderlich, Hubert Giesen

#104 The Smell of Dead Child

From the very first moment, here comes an irreversible tragedy of splendid power. The total passing of father and son, non-acceptance turned to non-existence. Primary narrative, sonorous, deafening.

Anne Sofie von Otter is magnificent in four different roles. She augments the predestination: The winner is known.

Composer: Franz Schubert, arr. Hector Berlioz
Work: Erlkönig
Recording: Anne Sofie von Otter, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado

#79 The Smell of Vaunt

The voice is fulfilled with the happiness, pride, and vaunt from the very beginning. It is saying: This is mine! That's all because of me! You don't need to understand the text to smell it.

Von Otter gives it a little twist, a pinch of irony. At the end, it's nur zu verkünden, isn't it.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Geheimes, D.719
Recording: Anne Sofie von Otter, Bengt Forsberg

#66 The Smell of Private Event

Voices as the best instruments. They in your living room, nonchalantly sitting here and over there. And they're singing just for you, for your ears only. It's pretty conversational, natural.

Die Singphoniker bring chilling qualities. The way how they slow down, how they quiet down, how they bend the rhythm, how they anticipate–this is really unique.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Jünglingswonne, D. 983
Recording: Die Singphoniker

#63 The Smell of Persistence

The smell here is really importune. Pa-pa-pa-pam! Pa-pa-pa-pa-pam! It's coming from everywhere, it's attacking from all directions. Tirelessly, persistently, steadily.

At all, the movement sounds comprehensive and exhausting. If I were Schubert, I'd drop after the first movement. This sonata does not need two movements.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Piano Sonata in C Major, D. 840, I. Moderato
Recording: Imogen Cooper

#26 The Smell of Black Flowers

Lay down and watch. The walls are fluttering. The lines are spreading across them: stems are everywhere, and they're sprouting. Leafs and blooms–all black. Incorporated into the walls.

The voice is forcing the flowers to appear; breathe with Goerne. The piano is holding them back; listen how Schmalcz sways between strophes.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Nacht und Träume
Recording: Matthias Goerne, Alexander Schmalcz

#1 The Smell of Intimacy

It's a quiet, very intimate setting. It's magic of the night. Smell the affection between alto voice and male choir when they repeat leise, leise. In that moment, music is not around you, it's inside you, spreading through your body. Sip hot tea–that's the feeling.

Schlaf du nicht, schlaf du nicht–do not sleep. Not now.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Ständchen, D. 920
Recording: Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner