Winterreise

It is February 2021 and Berlin is unreally quiet. Snow covers the streets and muffles the sound of the few cars braving the streets of a metropolis in lockdown. Our recording location, the Staatsoper Unter der Linden, is in an equally unreal state: the hectic daily rhythm of the opera house is on hiatus, with only one opera in rehearsal, and for only one performance. And this single performance will be for an empty hall, with only cameras for audience. In the midst of this unusually quiet setting are a singer, a pianist, and a special work, Schubert’s Winterreise.The dreamy atmosphere of the city and the theatre feels extraordinarily apt, and helps us focus and tune in to the liminal world of the song cycle, a world that has fascinated us both since beginning of our studies. Winterreise brings both the performer and the listener to the fundamental questions of humanity and existence. The human and social levels of the work remain pertinent and current. Schubert’s marvellous music absorbs and intoxicates, while at the same time, demands of its performers reflection on their own limits as a musician.

The Ragazze Quartet contributes not only the sonority of four string instruments, but also the energy of four musicians who at the same time connect with the music and the singer. The challenge, was to remain faithful to Schubert while exploiting to the full the extra possibilities offered by this instrumentation.The four members of the quartet have immersed themselves in the texts, and, in collaboration with the arranger Wim ten Have, have taken care to create a score perfectly suited to the baritone Martijn Cornet and themselves.

Is this an hommage to Schubert? Or just to a leading Lieder tenor of our time? Probably this box is both and it represents a clear reference for anyone who is a seasoned Lieder lover or a neophyte wanting to approach this genre.
I don’t say anything new when I state that the three Schubert’s Lieder cycles are the the pinnacle in the history of the art song. Not by chance any serious male singer wants to record at least one of these masterpieces.

Franz Schubert‘s two major song cycles based on texts by Wilhelm Müller (1794–1830) were milestones in music history. Whoever dares to “reproduce them in performance” is treading in the footsteps of giants. As Markus Schäfer puts it: “through previous interpretations by distinguished artists, these cycles have not only become extremely popular; they have acquired an almost untouchable aura”.In conversation, Markus Schäfer and Tobias Koch remind us that these songs’ status was not as monolithic as it has become. “Due to their audacity and sheer energy, the effect was initially almost frightening in Schubert’s closest circle of friends”, Schäfer explains. “It comes as no surprise that Franz von Schober, for one, did not like any of them except Der Lindenbaum.”

Stefan Vladar is a prominent Austrian pianist. Well before he reached the age of 30, he was the winner of a major competition, had appeared with many famous conductors and orchestras in Europe and America, and had made several important recordings. But like many successful pianists from the latter-twentieth century, he wanted to branch out into other areas: he first served as director of various musical events and then became a conductor. While his choices in repertory have favored the German School especially as a conductor he has played various piano works by Dvorák, Bartók, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and Gershwin. As a pianist Vladar has regularly performed as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber player and has recorded for major labels, including Sony, Naxos, Harmonia Mundi, Camerata, and Koch Classics.

A level of sensitivity such that nowhere is good or comforting, such that only in travel does the soul find calm, and hope for the peace of eventual rest: life is lonesome, and society alien. In this recording by Zoltán Megyesi and Balázs Fülei, Schubert’s most famous song cycle can be heard in the original ordering of Wilhelm Müller’s poems, which puts this epochal masterpiece into a new light.

SCHUBERT was working on the melodies for Winter Journey from February to October 1827. The musician was coming out of a short period that was not very conducive to creation. He lacked the literary material to stimulate his writing. The discovery of MÜLLER's first twelve poems enthralled him. He discovered the end of the cycle a few months later, thus completing the journey.

La période qui occupe SCHUBERT à la composition des mélodies du Voyage d’hiver s’étend de février à octobre 1827. Le musicien sort d’une courte période peu propice à la création. Il lui manque la matière littéraire pour stimuler son écriture. La découverte de douze premiers poèmes de MÜLLER l’enthousiasme. La découverte de la fin du cycle intervient quelques mois plus tard, achevant ainsi le parcours.

It’s already a significant achievement to either sing the songs or play the piano part of Franz Schubert’s romantic song-cycle of the lonely winter wanderer.