EGN NEWS DESK
In a program be aware, Pichon says that in Schubert’s opera catalog, there’s “no forgotten masterpiece to revive.” But whereas going via these works, he added, he got here throughout moments of “virtually religious meditation,” by which Schubert the composer of “the common voice” emerges. From these, he and the director Silvia Costa assembled “L’Autre Voyage.”
The present begins, although, not with opera however with tune — projected textual content from “Gute Nacht,” the opening of “Winterreise” that offers option to the spare chords of the cycle’s ending, “Der Leiermann.” Hence the title: From the “winter journey” of Schubert comes this “different journey,” another expansive and lasting a lifetime.
Yet, in Schubertian trend, its expansiveness is contained inside one thing fairly small. “Der Leiermann” is sung by a girl (Siobhan Stagg) at a spinning wheel who lets out a purple string that stretches throughout the stage. From it she cuts a fraction barely greater than a foot lengthy.
That purple string, probably the most heavy-handed metaphor in “L’Autre Voyage,” represents one life within the continuum of human existence, that of a male protagonist sung by the elegant baritone Stéphane Degout, who was additionally closely featured on “Mein Traum.” Costa is a director who builds pictures greater than scenes, which fits the nonlinear nature of this present. Through these tableaux we see the person comfortable — at his marriage ceremony, or watching his little one sing on the piano — but additionally in insufferable ache. His little one dies; he will get older; he generally feels as if he, too, is dead.
There can by no means be decision to a narrative like this. But “L’Autre Voyage” suggests there’s serenity in realizing that no matter we dwell via, it’s all a part of the ever-changing human expertise. Along the way in which, Schubert’s music — arias and lieder, and different excerpts — is strung along with slight alterations, notably within the preparations by Robert Percival that, whereas often anachronistic, preserve the present’s dramatic heft and a way of consistency.
Works that Schubert wrote for simply two musicians or forces as giant as a whole orchestra and choir come out sounding practically, neatly the identical. But the moments that stand out most — for his or her poetry, their lyrical turns of phrase, their delicate magnificence — have a tendency to return within the lieder. And that’s not a nasty factor. Schubert might need failed in opera, however he was a grasp of the artwork tune.
Few lieder composers have approached Schubert in his energy to maneuver listeners. And he nudged the shape in new instructions, particularly on the dramatic, evening-length scale of his two tune cycles. Those, amongst his most lasting contributions to music, have taken on a life past what he meant. It’s not uncommon to see a staged “Winterreise”; you possibly can name it the best opera that Schubert ever wrote.
