Schubertreise XXXVII

Conor Biggs, bass-baritone
​​​​​​​Michel Stas, piano

Schubert, Winterreise D911

1. Gute Nacht
2. Die Wetterfahne
3. Gefror’ne Tränen
4. Erstarrung
5. Der Lindenbaum
6. Wasserflut
7. Auf dem Flusse
8. Rückblick
9. Irrlicht
10. Rast
11. Frühlingstraum
12. Einsamkeit
13. Die Post
14. Der greise Kopf
15. Die Krähe
16. Letzte Hoffnung
17. Im Dorfe
18. Der stürmische Morgen
19. Täuschung
20. Der Wegweiser
21. Das Wirtshaus
22. Mut
23. Die Nebensonnen
24. Der Leiermann

Literally translated as ‘Schubert journey’ the National Concert Hall presents ‘Schubertreise’. Dublin-born bass-baritone, Conor Biggs, and Belgian pianist, Michel Stas, have taken on the monumental challenge of performing the complete songs of Schubert in this thirty-seven part series taking place over fifteen years.

The final instalment in the series, Winterreise is commonly acknowledged to be Schubert’s vocal masterpiece. The theme of love rejected and the alienation of the protagonist run through the cycle with unrelenting gloom, but the overall effect on the listener is not to feel depressed, but rather to wonder at Schubert’s compassion for the young man as he sets out on his journey, a journey which ends in insanity (the Romantic Movement took to heart the idea that the romantic individual often imposed a self-exile, as for example Byron’s Childe Harold).The twenty four relatively short songs (two sets of twelve each, composed at six month’s interval) owe much to some of the earlier songs in the composer’s career, but it is their cumulative effect, devoid of sentimentality, which makes the cycle so memorable, and such a fitting close to Schubertreise.

Fifteen years in the making, join us as we bring to a close the magnificent feat of musicianship that is Conor Biggs’ and Michel Stas’ Schubertreise.

Presented by NCH