Essential Highlights of Jorma Hynninen

Hynninen’s artistry at least on a par with, if not superior to Fischer-Dieskau and Bostridge. To celebrate its 25 th anniversary, Ondine, now distributed by Select but still operating independently, have released five bargain twofers in “a limited edition available in 2010 only.” Each comprises titles from their best-selling backlist to showcase five of their star artists: sopranos Soile Isokoski and Karita Mattila , violinist Pella Kuusisto, clarinettist Kari Kriikku and the singer featured here, baritone Jorman Hynninen. “Essential Highlights” is somewhat misleading, in that rather than offering snippets, the programme provided here consists of telling accounts of Schubert’s two most celebrated song-cycles, both recorded by Hynninen in his prime in 1988. “Die schöne Müllerin” is slightly unusual in that it is more often sung by a tenor, although there have been many recordings made by baritones. “Winterreise” is sung in its most familiar tessitura – but again, w