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In the Studio: Helmut Deutsch and Michael Volle: Staging Winterreise

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Helmut Deutsch and Michael Volle: Staging Winterreise

26/03/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - In the Studio, Helmut Deutsch and Michael Volle: Staging Winterreise

An acclaimed pianist and baritone tackle Franz Schubert's song cycle

Pianist Helmut Deutsch and baritone Michael Volle prepare to stage Franz Schubert's song cycle Die Winterreise at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Michael Volle is a baritone singer who has made his name with magisterial operatic performances, particularly Wagner. Helmut Deutsch has been playing the piano alongside the great and the good of the classical world for five decades, including the soprano Ileana Cotrubas and the tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Performing the 24-song cycle that Franz Schubert wrote at the end of his short life, Die Winterreise, or the Winter’s Journey, is considered the pinnacle of the recital repertoire, even for such accomplished musicians. The trust between singer and pianist must be absolute, because the two performers are, in Volle’s words, “naked and pure on stage”. Deutsch and Volle have a 20-year friendship and working partnership to build on, a musical connection that brings them together to perform this “summit” of singing over and over again.

Yet their next performance will be something out of the ordinary. They are undertaking a staged performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in Barcelona. The musicians will be joined by actresses on the stage, photographs accompanying the music, and newly developed poems interspersed between songs. How will the staging affect the relationship between singer and pianist, and how will it impact the music? Writer and journalist Lluís Amiguet joins rehearsals in Barcelona to find out.

Image: Helmut Deutsch (Credit: Kartal Karagedik) and Michael Volle (Credit: David Ruano)

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