In 1827, one year before his death, Franz Schubert
set texts by Wilhelm Müller to music, giving rise to “Winterreise” (Winter’s
Journey). It was composed almost entirely using minor keys, its
mournful character reflecting some of the personal trauma that Schubert himself
was experiencing at the time. What
Schubert introduced to his friends at a private performance as a “cycle of
terrifying songs” has become one of the most performed- and recorded song
cycles. German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s interpretation of it was to form
a major association with the work for many years. He made his first commercial
recording of it with Gerald Moore in 1955 and was to make more recordings -
with Jörg Demus, Daniel Barenboim, Alfred Brendel and a final version in 1990,
with Murray Perahia. But other great artists have since made their mark on
reading into “Winterreise”; the work has also inspired some less-conventional
presentations, reworkings and arrangements, such as the tensely atmospheric
performance by German tenor Julian Prégardien (and his father Christoph) with
the controversial Hans Zender’s arrangement of Schubert’s piano part for small
orchestra of classical instruments, with the addition of accordion, saxophone,
xylophone and wind machine. “Winterreise” has also been performed with dance.
Controversial as hearing women performing a text associated with a male
protagonist might be, the song cycle has been recorded by such prominent women
singers as Lotte Lehman, Christa Ludwig and Brigitte Fassbaender. But what
about the feasibility of hearing it sung by three women? Curiosity as to this
concept drew a sizable audience to an event of the Israeli Opera’s Chamber
Music Series in Tel Aviv on December 19th 2019 to hear sopranos Hila Baggio and
Yael Levita, mezzo-soprano Hagar Sharvit and pianist Yael Karet in a production
of Schubert’s “Winterreise”; the theatrical dimension was directed by Shirit Lee
Weiss.
The stage of the Israeli Opera’s small hall was
bare, save for some snowflakes, the only props being three chairs, with the
piano at one side. The songs of the cycle were performed in their original
order; there were no changes to the piano score. As the piano opened the cycle
evoking the steps of the burdened protagonist leaving the town of his beloved, it
was accompanied by the sounds of breathing, the three singers slowly moving forward, perhaps symbolically approaching the audience to
invite us to join them on what was to be a powerful, impassioned journey.
“Winterreise” does not have a clear plot. The emphasis is on thoughts and
emotions: fear, loneliness and pain, but also on love, dreams and hope. No mere
accompaniment, Schubert’s piano score is part-and-parcel of the work, setting
the scene for each song, closing each miniature scene, commenting, endorsing,
indeed, sometimes adding wisdom to what the protagonist does not manage to
observe in his dire predicament. At the Tel Aviv performance, each song text
was sung either by one singer or divided among the three. There was, however,
no doubling of the vocal line - only the occasional mouthing of words at the
conclusion of a specific song by the two not singing, seemingly validating a
gesture. What was indisputable was the depth of enquiry into the meaning and
emotion of each song undertaken by each of the singers and reinforced by
articulate diction. (For non-German speakers, translation into Hebrew was
projected onto a screen.) But what was
ground-breaking about Shirit Lee Weiss’s production was that (in contrast to
the protagonist’s predicament of being totally alone to deal with his plight in
a wintry European landscape) here we are presented with the emotional
interactions of three women to each other. As dictated by each Lied, their
reactions and actions fluctuated between support, affection, empathy, pain, anger,
horror, frustration and rejection, indicated not only by their singing but also
by their body language, their facial expressions mirroring each turn of emotion of the verbal- and musical texts. It was a very physical performance,
adding a whole new dimension to Schubert’s “Winterreise”, yet leaving the
incomparable work unchanged, unmarred and as real, as moving and as disturbing as
the songs (in the composer’s own words to his circle of
artist friends) that “have affected me more than any others”, but now presented on a new, differently
personal but communal niveau.
Yael Levita, Hila Baggio and Hagar Sharvit display
lush, fresh vocal timbres, a wide emotional range and innate musicality. All
opera soloists on the Israeli- and international scene, they engage well with
the Lied genre. Musical director and pianist of the production, Yael Karet has
appeared widely with orchestras and singers in Israel and overseas. Today, she
works in several capacities at the Israeli Opera and is a member of the Israeli
Chamber Project. Her playing of the piano role in the “Winterreise” project was
judicious in timing, insightful and sensitive, creating the mood and soundscape
of each song and generating a consolidated and dedicated joint performance.
Since her return from the USA, Shirit Lee Weiss has done much opera directing
in Israel; she also teaches acting on the opera stage. Her stage direction of
“Winterreise” was resourceful and original, poignant and powerful in its use of
understatement. And the Israeli Opera’s small hall allows for audience and
performers to engage at close proximity. A new and daring approach to Romantic vocal
music, the Tel Aviv performance constituted a fruitful encounter of five
outstanding home-grown artists.
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