Music TipsListening tips from Bert van der Wolf
Miesenberger and Haimel: Die schöne MüllerinMiesenberger and Haimel Die schöne Müllerin
Schubert’s famous song cycle, accompanied by a guitar from Schubert’s time instead of the piano.
Listening tip from Bert van der Wolf
There are more than 230 recordings of Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin. This one sounds different: instead of playing a grand piano, Christian Haimel accompanies the tenor Markus Miesenberger on the guitar, a replica of an instrument from Schubert’s time, strung with gut.
That is less exotic than it seems. Schubert probably owned guitars himself, and some of his songs, including four from Die schöne Müllerin, were published with guitar accompaniment during his lifetime. The arrangement heard here is based on the original piano part.
The story stays the same: a young miller falls in love with his master’s daughter, loses her to the hunter and in the end finds peace in the brook. 20 songs in just under an hour. With this approach, the two Austrians want to present the cycle more intimately than listeners know it. Bert van der Wolf recorded the album in March 2026 at his studio in Heerewaarden in the Netherlands.
Personnel
Markus Miesenberger, tenor
Christian Haimel, guitar (Stauffer “Legnani” model, replica by Jan Tuláček, 2014)
Arrangement for guitar and high voice: Konrad Ragossnig and John W. Duarte
Column
Listening tips from Bert van der Wolf
Bert van der Wolf is a recording engineer (Tonmeister) and producer. He has run his own recording studio in the Netherlands since 1996 and owns the company behind the labels Turtle Records and The Spirit of Turtle. Audio Unscripted works with him: he chooses the albums, our editors introduce them. He produced these recordings himself; the high-resolution downloads are available from The Spirit of Turtle.
All listening tips →Details from The Spirit of Turtle and the booklet. Album page →