WINTERREISE – FROM A WOMAN'S PERSPECTIVE Presented by Liszt Academy

In 1827, one year before his death, Schubert composed the song cycle Winterreise (‘Winter Journey’) to the poems of Wilhelm Müller. The work, which is immersed in tragic overtones, was originally written for tenor with piano accompaniment, although it is not unusual to hear it performed by baritones or basses, too. Despite its melancholy, it is a popular piece that has been performed in several different versions in Budapest over the past few years, including arrangements for symphony orchestra as well as original tenor versions, but until now never for female voice. On this evening, one of Hungary’s most eminent singers, the highly acclaimed Emőke Baráth, undertakes the task of performing this late Schubert masterpiece. The instrumental accompaniment is similarly novel: instead of the piano, harpist Anastasia Razvalyaeva accompanies the singer. Under the direction of Eszter Novák, the cycle, which is largely known as a male drama, is now staged from an authentically female perspective.