Last week, young tenor Tilman Lichdi made a stunning debut at the Oxford Lieder Festival, wowing a packed audience with an energetic and heartfelt performance of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin.

This tragic tale of the shy young miller driven to despair by unrequited love emerged from one of the lowest points of Schubert’s life, when he was suffering from ill-health.

It is perhaps not surprising, then, that he dispensed with the satirical elements of the original Müller poems on which the song cycle is based, and instead overlaid it with the seriousness and dramatic intensity so beloved of the Romantic composers.

As such, it presents unbounded opportunities for the singer to express a range of emotions, and Lichdi seized upon them all with alacrity, from the lyrical evocation of pastoral simplicity to the brief moments of hope as the miller believes the object of his affections returns his love, through to frantic despair and a final, quiet anguish. This was a compelling, passionate and theatrical performance, with the contrasts in mood clearly defined, and the glorious melodic and rhythmic subtleties of Schubert’s music superbly realized.

Occasionally, Lichdi worried me a little with his upper notes, as he had a tendency to lose resonance and then blast forth when he regained it. Otherwise, though, he produced sounds of great richness and warmth, colouring the songs with a variety of tonal effects that painted vivid pictures of the miller’s world. There was tenderness in his voice as he sang of the miller girl, as in Tränenregen (‘Rain of tears’), barely restrained glee in Mein! and a frenzied, almost savage bitterness in Der Jäger (‘The hunter’) as he realises he has lost his love to a rival.

The Oxford Lieder Festival continues tonight with mezzo soprano Clara Mouriz, followed by Sir Willard White tomorrow night, and ends on Saturday with a recital by bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu. For details, visit www.oxfordlieder.co.uk