Franz Schubert's lieder are among the most celebrated examples of the genre, where text and music are given equally prominent footing. One of his foremost works in the form is the song cycle, Winterreise, which has been given a new expressive dimension in Deborah Warner, tenor Ian Bostridge, and pianist Julius Drake's staged performance of the chilling song cycle.
Using verse by poet Wilhelm Müller, the 24-piece cycle details the anguish of a young man who walks into a wintery forest after seeing his beloved marry another. Bostridge, more than just a singer, is a Schubert scholar. He has performed Winterreise more than a hundred times, and his familiarity with the work has resulted in the 2015 book, Schubert's Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession. Drake is an internationally-renowned pianist, and has performed the cycle with numerous artists, including Bostridge.
Other staged productions of Schubert's Winterreise have been mounted before, although some were criticized for "[leaving] Schubert out." Considering its performers' familiarity with the work, the Ustinov production promises to make no such mistake.
The production opens Warner's final season at Ustinov. During her three-year tenure, she has synthesized opera, dance, and song.
After its first run, Warner, Bostridge and Drake bring back Winterreise in September.
