Projects and Programmes

Schubert: Winterreise

"amazing.. extraordinary.. wonderful.. absolutely compelling" Radio 3, In Tune

"a spellbinding evening" The Independent

"fine baritone in his own imaginative new staging" Evening Standard

"magic filled the air" Evening Standard

Originally commissioned by New Kent Opera
Baritone/Director: Thomas Guthrie
Illustration: Peter Bailey
Animation: Andrew Overton

Schubert's masterpiece in an acclaimed production using puppet, animation, and the enchanting sound of the nineteenth century guitar.

This haunting song cycle, written in the last months of Schubert's life, is one of the glories of the nineteenth century. In this production, originally commissioned by New Kent Opera, the character of the love-sick poet wandering alone through the wintry landscape is taken by a puppet. Accompanied by fortepiano and guitar, the feelings of loss and grief are explored in songs of famous beauty and tenderness. The design incorporates drawings by well-known artist and illustrator Peter Bailey, animated by Andrew Overton, while a stellar cast of new generation musicians bring the music alive in vivid and powerful manner.

Performances

Georgian Concert Society, Edinburgh 16 February 2008
Dublin 24 November 2007
York 3 March 2007
Uppingham Concerts 9-10 February 2007
Aldeburgh 1 December 2006
Oslo Kammermusikk Festival 12 August 2006
Buxton Festival 17 July 2006
St Endellion Festival 11 April 2006
New End Theatre, Hampstead, London 20-21 November 2005
St Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh 25 August 2005
New Kent Opera Festival 4 November 2004

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Aims: to peel back the accumulated patina of the years, the layers of ever-more hallowed recitals, to hear this wonderfully dramatic music as if for the first time, in the tradition of the charades and literary entertainments that were so much part of the life of Schubert's circle in Vienna; to bring the work in this way back to its roots, with the freedom born of the important influence of rhetoric, still discernible in the 19th century, which demanded risks and innovation of the performer; born too of the knowledge that in Schubert's time the idea of a complete song cycle in performance did not exist; and inspired in terms of the instrumentation by the image of Schubert on his deathbed accompanying himself on the guitar. We hope with these tools to open a space in which the audience can experience the poetry and music in an intense and personal way.

Origins: Puppetry is an ancient art form, at once ritualistic and playful. The idea behind performing Winterreise with a puppet came during a rehearsal Gary and I had a couple of years ago. We had both recently had experience working with puppets, and we felt that the intensity of communication possible, and the relationship between performer and puppet when the emotions are externalised in this way, would make the use of a puppet an intriguing means of presenting a song recital. So the opportunity to perform Winterreise, where the wanderer undergoes a journey into isolation, alienation and even schizophrenia, in the Theatre Royal in Margate, in collaboration with New Kent Opera, and with these performing tools, was a very exciting one for us.

The puppet has been designed and made by Mandarava, (who designed the puppets for New Kent Opera's first production (by Tim Carroll) of Acis and Galatea), and the animation by Andrew Overton is based on drawings by Peter Bailey, (who has illustrated books by Phillip Pullman, Kit Wright, Tony Mitton, Allan Ahlberg as well as several Folio Society publications, including Cider With Rosie and Selected Poems of John Betjeman).

"wonderful communication" Sean Rafferty, Radio 3, In Tune