Werner Van Mechelen & Florestan Bataillie

Winterreise is one of the most brilliant and most frequently performed song cycles ever written. It belongs to the highlight of Schubert's oeuvre and has become an indispensable part of the classical song repertoire. De Oostenrijkse composer Franz Schubert wrote over 600 songs. Zijn Winterreise is a now legendary cycle of 24 songs that he wrote in his penultimate year of life. The poetry is by the hand of Wilhelm Müller. The story seems very simple at first sight: a young man undertakes a long journey on foot after being rejected. Along the way, the young man encounters himself several times, it becomes a true emotional rollercoaster. In the last song, he meets the ‘Leiermann’, the player with the hurdy-gurdy and the personification of death. Bass-baritone Werner Van Mechelen and pianist Florestan Bataillie were guests last season with a particularly warm song program Lebenswandel. Now they come to warm us, on the eve of spring, with this masterpiece for voice and piano. The farewell to winter has never sounded so beautiful.