Finding Winterreise...The songs of Franz Schubert I have known it seems forever. Perhaps my mother played them when I was a child. They were played in ballet class. They were chosen by choreographers. Erlkönig entranced my early attempts at singing. Then some years ago, dancing less, singing more, I happened upon Der Leiermann. "I will learn it," said I to myself. Hook. Line. And sinker.
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Timeline of performances...
Carolyn Choa
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Miles Graber
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Alain Roudier
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The Janus Quartet
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Jonathan Powell
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Emmanuelle Maggesi
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Jean-Pierre Aigeldinger
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Olivier Pelmoine
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La Matrice, Paris
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Blue Gallery, Manhattan
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Terry Eder
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The American Cathedral in Paris
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Miss China/Cabaret /"Le Grand Duc, 1928" Pigalle
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A Winter's Journey In a Summer's Garden
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20 November 2016, Carolyn's Salon
Carolyn Choa, my long-time friend and "dance sister", invited me to sing one wintry wet Sunday evening at her glorious London home. The warm gathering of family and friends couldn't have provided a better moment to present my "crazy idea". Along with two other Schubert Lieder, An die Musik and Ständchen, I sang for the first time before an audience Gute Nacht (no.1) and Der Leiermann (no.24)...all in my usual baritone. Also on the program were pianist Chris Hotson and puppet master Mark Down. Such a lovely evening! Thank you, little sister!
Another public performance of roughly two-thirds of the cycle took place at Piedmont Gardens in Oakland,
1 April 2017, for an emotion-filled forty minutes, before a wonderfully attentive audience of mainly elderly residents, my Dad included.
Thanks to Liz of Piedmont Gardens for the invitation, and to Allison Lovejoy, my pianist collaborator.
The performance was dedicated to my dear mentor Paul Hamburger, who gave me so much advice and encouragement and who would have been happy, I am sure, to work with me on Winterreise, and to my dear brother-in-law Bruce Russell, artist and guitarist, who the year before had and would today have marvelled at the sublime dissonance of the first chord in Der Leiermann. "Are you sure that's what he wrote, Tom?", as he repeated the first line over and over that evening on his electric guitar.
And thank you, Dad.
Dad passed away later that year, in October. He was nearly 104. My first complete Winterreise "Trip'n'n Winter" was performed at Piedmont Pianos in Oakland, 8 April 2018 and dedicated to his memory.
Miles Graber was my pianist collaborator. The mid-afternoon Sunday performance was artfully filmed by Ilja Sarro of ISDesigns,
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUDW_1AJU6o&feature=youtu.be)
the bright California sunlight being reflected by the passing cars playfully and eerily dancing in counterpoint to "ein Licht tanzt freundlich vor mir her...".
Through Miles Graber's good name, we arranged for and performed our second "Trip'n'n Winter" at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 15 February 2019. Thank you, Miles, again. And Ilja again came through with his magical touch, and different views of the show are available to watch online, including a full close-up follow shot of the whole cycle.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI3A8F7kqDg&feature=youtu.be)
For this performance I chose to sing in the higher original setting for Tenor. Here is another fixed-camera wider shot of excerpts from the same performance, giving a fuller view of the movements in space: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3oBcEg_D3k)
Paris, France, Théâtre Les Enfants Terribles, Sunday, 31 March 2019, 5pm. Capacity audience.
"Trip'n'n Winter II", Schubert's Winterreise, arranged for Voice (Bass-Baritone) and String Quartet by Richard Krug.
In collaboration with Janus Quartet. Thank you Richard, and thank you Irma, Xavier, Claire, Sara.
Paris, France, Théâtre de l'Ile Saint-Louis, Sunday, 3 November 2019, 5.30pm. Capacity audience in this historical venue in the very heart of Paris.
"Trip'n'n Winter" with the wonderful Jonathan Powell on piano...merci, Jonathan. Looking forward to our next one together.
Excerpts from the performance are now online:
gute nacht (https://youtu.be/b7JnMTwtFSA)
der lindenbaum (https://youtu.be/fr1tZfuCVHQ)
der leiermann (https://youtu.be/TjdznGvDUO4)
Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain, Salon Performance, Saturday, 30 November 2019, 7pm. Hosted by my special friends Carolina and family, Jaume Torrent and I presented our new collaboration begun three days earlier. In fact, Jaume had done his own marvellous transcription of Winterreise for solo guitar and voice some years ago, and we were fortunate to have been recommended to one another by our mutual colleague Madeleine Mitchell, virtuoso violinist. So wonderful the gathering! We look forward to finding our next date and venue to continue our winter's travelling together in the coming months.
Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, France, Salon Performance, Sunday, 26 April, 2020. Due to extensive travel restrictions in response to the pandemic, this first public performance of an exciting collaboration with pianoforte expert Alain Roudier, begun in late 2019, has had to be postponed. Please keep checking here for further announcements.
25 August 2021, Wednesday 5pm, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, our re-scheduled salon performance from earlier this year and last year
with pianofortist Alain Roudier playing an original instrument from Schubert's time and place.
Finally we did it, out first Winterreise together...Merci, Alain!
A Winter's Voyage in mid-summer, a dream, with a view of Mont Ventoux above the elegant little swimming pool, a super audience of participants of Alain's Summer Academy, musical colleagues, friends and neighbours...limited in number because of prevailing Covid regulations, unlimited in reciprocal passion for this masterwork. Thank you all, and especially Luce Roudier, who presented Müller's poems in French.
19 September 2021, Salon Chez Hugo, Brussels, Pianist Emmanuelle Maggesi and I were invited to present "Trip'n'n Winter" at Hugo and Linéa's amazing home in the Saint Gilles neighbourhood of this "changed" city. (This city, was my first home in Europe, when I arrived to knock on Maurice Béjart's door...nearly half a century ago.) The opportunity was prompted by my taking a part in OVNI(s) Season 2, for Canal+, the introduction coming from my music-loving Ovni colleague, "Cappucino". The Salon was for me a getting-closer perhaps to Schubert's own presentations to dear friends and colleagues. A wonderful time!
02 October 2021, Salon Chez Anne, nr. Lille, Emmanuelle and I, for our second, were hosted for a Salon performance in a wonderful 19th century house on the outskirts of lovely Lille, with garden extraordinaire. Merci Anne pour ton accueil! And there was a storm! Thank you, Storm!
10 October 2021, Salon ACCORD DELEON, For our premiere, Jean-Pierre AIGELDINGER and I were hosted at an out of this world accordion shop near Nation in Paris by owner Léon. Here, as in Villeneuve and Brussels and Lille, the Müller poems were read in French translation by special guests. Winterreise for voice and accordion...yes!!!!!!!!!
24 October 2021, The American Cathedral in Paris, Wunderbar! Singing Winterriese to J.P.'s accordion, in this special place and space...merci, merci, merci! Good audience! Good vibe!
31 October 2021, Halloween Party at Théâtre Ile St-Louis, Thank you again, Emmanuelle Maggesi, our third, in a fairly short space of time, before a lovely audience, in this pre-Schubert venue in medieval Paris. Here's to the next...!
24 April 2022, Art Gallery in Montreuil, Again with Jean-Pierre, we presented five songs from Winterreise as part of a painter friend's closing ceremony, providing us with the pleasure of again presenting our "new" version of this very "contemporary" Schubert cycle.
02 October 2022, La Matrice, Rue des Martyrs, With my three wonderful collaborators, Emmanuelle Maggesi, Jean-Pierre Aigeldinger, and most recently, Olivier PELMOINE (guitar), we performed the complete Liederkreis. Thank you François Muracciole for the invitation to your fantastic hidden gem of a studio in the bustling Rue des Martyrs!
22 October 2022, Klavierhaus, Manhattan, New York, New York, what a wonderful place! At last, I am back, and with my project, for what turned into three performances...the first with my newest collaborator pianist Terry EDER...at this uptown piano store and atelier, as part of a program of student performers. We presented two songs as a fine warm-up for the next two concerts...
26 October 2022, Han Feng's Salon Dinner Party, Midtown Manhattan, My dear friend and colleague, costume designer from Madama Butterfly and photographer, hosted a fabulously warm and lively gathering of twenty friends, to listen to Terry Eder and myself presenting the first half of Winterreise. I was overjoyed to sing for an intensely receptive audience many of whom were German and Austrian artists and music lovers living in The Big Apple...and to have their appreciative and encouraging comments over a sumptuous offering of dumplings and Grüner Veltliner! Merci, Han Feng!
30 October 2022, Blue Gallery, East 46th Street, Manhattan, A very special place...this former urban dairy...now art and music gallery...was the perfect venue for Terry and my first full-length Winterreise in New York. Thanks so much, Terry, for our new-found closely-shared travels and here's to our next, hopefully soon in 2023...
Two songs from this performance on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dqa7kRLf8xk
And here are a few comments from the audience:
“It was an amazing concert – both the songs and the piano. At first, I was a bit surprised by the venue – sparse, stark and unadorned. But as a time went on I came to appreciate the barren surroundings as reflective of and resonant with the mood of the songs. During the performance, I had some regret that I hadn’t reviewed the lyrics before the performance, thinking the lyrics would have provided an important addition. It turns out I didn’t need the lyrics at all. The translation of Winterreise ( a winter journey ) and the first few sentences of the translation(s) I found via Google, “A journey in the cold as the singer mourns a lost love” - No more words are necessary; the music says and conveys it all.” --Judith
“Your performance will live inside of me for a very long time. Evocative, creative, haunting, strong, passionate, vocally superb!” --Beth
“I wish that everyone could have experienced the harmony of Tom’s voice, acting & movement and Terry’s musicality.” --David
20 November 2022, The American Cathedral in Paris, The time slot in this beautiful venue, limited our program to only two-thirds of the whole cycle. Emmanuelle Maggesi and I performed the complete first half plus six songs from part 2 ending with Der Leiermann. Our collaboration deepens. I am so happy for that...and I imagine dear ol' Franz to be so too!
28 May 2023, Paris, Pigalle, Miss China/Cabaret de la Performance/"Le Grand Duc, 1928" , My wonderful collaborator pianist Jonathan Powell just happened to be in town performing a few days earlier at the Czech Cultural Centre and he accorded me our second Winterreise together at this historical Paris venue, a hotspsot of the roaring 20's. This performance was dedicated to Iain Phillips, the creator of the incredible website of "all things Winterreise": www.winterreise.online
This marvellous resource was so useful and inspiring and encouraging in my earliest and continuing steps on this unending voyage, and I wish, Iain, that you are hearing this...Thank you so much...
11 June 2023, Montreuil, Paris, in a Summer's Garden, a Winter's Journey... Thank you Claude and Nathalie for the invitation to this haven...so special and acoustically inviting for Jean-Pierre Aigeldinger's and my offering of a nearly complete Schubert's Winterreise... for voice and accordion! We hope to have the three remaining numbers done by mid-Autumn, so keep tuned-in for news of the whole cycle. A note: I do believe Schubert would have taken dearly to this instrument which was in active development at the time he was composing these songs. Had he lived longer, who knows?
Upcoming Concerts
28/05/2023 Jonathan Powell on piano, "Le Grand Duc" Paris, 17h, 52 rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, 75009 Paris
11/06/2023 Jean-Pierre Aigeldinger on accordion, "La Galerie", 15h, 9 rue Barbès, 93100 Montreuil
24/09/2023 Terry Eder on piano, "The American Cathedral", 15h, 23 Av. George V, 75008 Paris
28/05/2023 Jonathan Powell on piano, "Le Grand Duc" Paris, 17h, 52 rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, 75009 Paris
11/06/2023 Jean-Pierre Aigeldinger on accordion, "La Galerie", 15h, 9 rue Barbès, 93100 Montreuil
24/09/2023 Terry Eder on piano, "The American Cathedral", 15h, 23 Av. George V, 75008 Paris
Contact for more information and bookings: yangt2305@gmail.com
Paul Hamburger
