Rachel Fenlon performs Winterreise as both singer and pianist, accompanying herself, a format she has championed throughout her career.
Recording & Production
This recording of Winterreise was made over four days in May 2023 at the Concert Hall at Domaine Forget, with Carl Talbot as producer and engineer.
Performer Biography
Rachel Fenlon, the soprano and pianist on this album, began studying piano at age 4 and singing at age 17.
Historical Context
Schubert's generation lived through the hopes of personal freedom from the French Revolution, which were later crushed by the repressive politics of the Restauration after the Napoleonic wars.
Compositional Technique
Schubert's Winterreise, a cycle of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, is set for voice and piano, creating a 'theatrical universe' with limited means.
Critical Reception
Early reviews of Winterreise, like one in the Viennese Theaterzeitung in 1828, recognized Schubert's ability to carry listeners into the 'immeasurable depth of the human heart'.
Composition History
Schubert's friend Joseph von Spaun recorded that Schubert considered Winterreise to have taken more out of him than any other songs he had written.
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