SOMM Recordings announces a tribute, marking the centenary of his birth, to the English baritone John Carol Case with the first release of his performance of Schubert’s Winterreise, accompanied by Raymond Calcraft.

One of the leading baritones of his generation, John Carol Case was known for his power and poetry in diverse roles from Bach to Gilbert and Sullivan, including Elgar’s The Apostles, Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem and The Pilgrim’s Progress, Finzi’s songs, and as an indelible ‘Christus’ in Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

Fifty years after it was recorded in Wesley Central Hall, Portsmouth, Case’s remarkable account of Winterreise reveals him to be a commanding, insightful interpreter of Schubert’s masterpiece. Restored from reel-to-reel tape by Oscar Torres, Andrew Keener and Paul Baily (also responsible for the mastering), the performance is now released for the first time.

Raymond Calcraft studied conducting with Sir Adrian Boult and has worked with choirs and orchestras in the UK and internationally. He enjoyed a long relationship with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, conducted and recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and has collaborated with Pepe Romero, Patricia Rozario, Janice Watson, Julian Lloyd Webber and others.

Calcraft, Case’s accompanist of choice during the last five years of his career before retiring in 1976, contributes an affectionate memoir of their relationship, in which he describes John Carol Case’s singing as being “notable for an almost tenor-like quality in its upper register, his remarkable breath control, and above all for the clarity and eloquence of his diction”.

Authoritative notes on Winterreise are provided by Schubert scholar Richard Stokes.

SOMM’s reputation for historic recordings is unmatched, its recent 85th birthday tribute to tenor Ian Partridge, Stimme der Liebe (SOMMCD0670) a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, while Audiophile Audition hailed Vaughan Williams Live Vol.4 (ARIADNE5020) as “soaring, luminous”.