Winterreise – A ballet by Christian Spuck

The award-winning ballet to Hans Zender's music interpretation of the cycle will be streamed live on Arte Concert on 13 February 2021 at 19:00.

Franz Schubert’s "Winterreise", a cycle of 24 songs for voice and piano set to poems by Wilhelm Müller, is not only regarded as the zenith of Schubert’s song composition, but as the pinnacle of German art song in its entirety. German composer Hans Zender arranged the cycle in 1993 and his version for tenor and chamber orchestra reveals the cycle’s potential to disturb, and approaches Wilhelm Müller’s poems in its own way. Zender pushes into the darkest regions of human existence. With his interpretation, he brings to light emotions that pulsate just beneath the surface in Schubert’s work, uncovering the uncanny layers in the depths of the music.

Like Hans Zender, Christian Spuck’s production, which was awarded the renowned "Prix Benois de la Danse" in 2019, concerns itself less with illustrating the external stations of the traveler’s journey. Instead, it approaches the cycle with thoroughly comprehensive abstraction. Using a mixture of large ensemble scenes and intimate solo images, Christian Spuck undertakes a journey into the innermost self and explores such timeless themes as love, longing, alienation, and abandonment, allowing the medium of dance to provide new perspectives on one of the greatest works of classical music.

Schubert's "Winterreise"
A composed interpretation

Ballet by Christian Spuck
Music by Hans Zender

Philharmonia Zürich
Mauro Peter, tenor
Benjamin Schneider, conductor

Streamed live on 13 February 2021, 19:00 CET

A 4K HDR production of Accentus Music.

Production Company Accentus Music GmbH
Composer Franz Schubert
Composer Hans Zender
Choreography by Christian Spuck
Dance Company Ballett Zürich
Orchestra / Band Philharmonia Zürich
Conductor Benjamin Schneider
Soloist Mauro Peter