Eine Winterreise performance art work seen 2022 at Theater Basel, Switzerland. Based on music by Franz Schubert. Staged by Christof Loy. Stars are:
Anne Sofie Von Otter, who sings, acts, speaks, and dances (a bit) as Schubert’s Soul
Nicolas Franciscus, who acts, dances, and speaks as the Doppelganger, i.e. Schubert as a man
Giulia Tornarolli, who dances and acts the role of Viola, who represents Schubert’s circle of adoring admirers
Kristian Alm, who acts the role of Schober, Schubert’s bohemian friend, who probably introduced Schubert to The Courtesan
Matilda Gustafsson, who dances and acts as The Courtesan, who probably infected Schubert with syphilis
Kristian Bezuidenhout, who plays himself as Pianist
Claudio Rado, who appears briefly as Violinist
Set and costumes by Herbert Murauer; lighting by Roland Edrich; dramaturgy by Niels Nuijten. Directed for TV by Friedrich Gatz. Sung in German. Released 2023, disc has only stereo sound. Grade: A
The recording of this piece has 25 tracks of Schubert music, of which 6 come from Winterreise, D. 911. This performance is similar our Twin Spirits title about the love story of Schumann and Clara Wieck. But Loy’s Eine Winterreise is even more far ranging than Twin Sprits with Loy’s operatic and dance elements in the mix. Words fail me. Let’s try some pictures:
Schubert’s glory:
Schubert with an innocent, admiring friend:
The Courtesan:
Who was invited by Schober and introduced to Schubert:
Below you see all main characters. Loy has a peculiar gene that makes him put chairs on a stage—here the chairs represent a dance hall:
Schubert’s hope:
The complicated relationships surrounding Schubert:
Bad news:
Schubert’s misery:
I give this an A+ for originality, starting with having a 66-year old soprano playing the role of Schubert, who died at age 31. And instead of a plot, Loy presents aspects of Schubert’s life with singers who also act, dance, and speak. You get some clues about what is going on from the keepcase booklet. Then it’s up to you to image the glory of Schubert’s short life as well as his horrible death.
Fred Cohn reviewed this at pages 60-61 of the October 2023 Opera News. Cohn couldn’t get over the lack of an opera-like plot. But he is full of enthusiasm for the “theatrical validity” of Otter’s performance. I would extend this praise for theatrical validity to all the performers.
I don’t think this show has the kind of immediate impact one would want to grade this A+ overall, so I drop back to an A grade. I could mark this down for stereo sound only, although this seems too mean for something that is basically solo singing with a piano.
Finally, I’m filled with awe at yet another amazing work from Loy, who seems now to have arrived at supernova status as opera and theater director.
Something my screenshots abone don’t convey is how important dancing is to this work. Below is the only YouTube video I found—alas, it’s too short. It’s accurate, but it doesn’t do this remarkable title justice: