Czech composer Václav Tomášek was born more than two decades before Schubert and outlived him by a similar time, but is always destined to be eclipsed by him. If you want to know why, listen to Tomášek’s setting of Erlkönig, one of many Goethe poems chosen by both composers: he proceeds at an uneasy but poised trot where Schubert hurtles, terrified. Yet even if Schubert is the superior composer, with a keener dramatic sense, many of Tomášek’s songs are little gems in their own right, and you can hear why Goethe himself approved of settings including Heldenröslein, with its moment of uplift in the middle of each verse, and Wandrers Nachtlied, with its spare elegance. Renata Pokupić’s supple, gleaming mezzo-soprano could use a notch more colour at times, but is eloquent nonetheless, and pianist Roger Vignoles makes each song sound its best.
