By MATTHEW GUREWITSCH [NY Times, 6 November 2005]
CLASSICAL song recitals are, for the most part, a world of equal opportunity. Male or female, artists may perform what they like. Then there are the special cases: Schubert’s cycles “Die Schˆne M¸llerin” (“The Miller’s Fair Daughter”) and “Winterreise” (“Winter Journey”), for instance, or Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” (“A Poet’s Love”). In each, the “I” of the verse presupposes a man’s voice. Women occasionally take over, though never without raising questions of congruity.