This interpretation of Die Winterreise is certainly unusual. Here, there is no singer; instead, the text is recited. The music still allows Schubert’s themes and motifs to ring out, but it treats them with complete freedom. The instrumental timbres are also different: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and bass clarinet exchange with lute and theorbo. Axel Wolf and Hugo Siegmeth join narrator Stefan Hunstein on an introspective journey that is finely connected, both musically and interpretively. Die Winterreise is about human existence, about a redefinition of one’s position after a setback, when someone who has been rejected reflects on his life, surrounded by cold and darkness. This recording reflects an interplay between faithfulness to the original and freedom of expression, creating a personal world of winter travel that resembles a musical-text radio play.
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