舒伯特的《冬之旅》是在去世前一年(30岁)创作的，跟《美丽的磨坊少女》一样也是根据威廉·缪勒的诗所谱曲。由24首歌曲组成，是舒伯特毕生的呕心巨著。舒伯特形容这部作品充满忧郁、凄凉的气氛，是“一套令人颤栗的歌曲”。这部声乐套曲叙述冬天里一位失恋者的孤独旅行，充满悲凉和迷惘，却有着揪心的美。才30岁的舒伯特就写出了这样一幕人生晚景。果然第二年他就去世了，仿佛是有预感似的。
整部作品共由24首歌曲组成，歌词也是威廉·缪勒的诗作，从这些小标题以及它们的排列次序上，你或许已经可以看出个大概，这里面讲的故事，是怎样的来去、怎样的始终。旅途是怎样的孤寂、阴冷，心情是怎样的苦楚、迷惘……舒伯特的歌曲不光美在演唱，钢琴伴奏也同样重要，等于是人声和钢琴的二重奏。只有两者合作相得益彰，这部作品才能算是成功。因此许多著名的钢琴家都有过与大牌歌唱家合作此作品的录音。

Unlike other Zauberflötes of the mono era, Ferenc Fricsay's 1953 recording includes the dialogue, albeit spoken by actors rather than the singers. The prize assumptions here are Fischer-Dieskau's youthful, engaging Papageno, Haefliger's intelligent Tamino, Rita Streich's effortless Queen of the Night, and Lisa Otto's touching Pamina. Fricsay's tight-knit pacing doesn't hurt either. On balance, this is the finest of this short-lived conductor's Mozart opera recordings. --Jed Distler

Yes, here it is folks--that irritatingly catchy chorus you first heard in the film Excalibur, or as the background music to the HBO Boxing Specials, and in zillions of other places. What it's not is the music from The Omen, which it clearly inspired. All pieces of music that feature choruses chanting in Latin are not the same (in fact, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms is much closer to The Omen than this). Orff actually wrote a lot more music, but here's a case where his reputation as a "one work" composer really is justified, for nothing else comes close in musical or popular appeal. This performance was authorized by the composer himself, and that's recommendation enough. --David Hurwitz