Rochester 'Winterreise' Features Performance by Tenor Robert Swensen and Pianist Russell Miller; Set for 2/9

Tenor Robert Swensen and pianist Russell Miller, faculty members at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, will perform Franz Schubert's final and tragic song cycle, Winterreise (Winter Journey), at the Morgan Library & Museum at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9. The recital will include projections of winter photographs from the collections of The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, chosen to express and heighten the mood of each of the 24 songs.

Set to the poetry of Wilhelm Müller, Winterreise is a journey characterized by the relentless decline of a rejected individual as he travels alone in the dead of winter on a road from which there is no return. The songs represent the most heartbreaking and beautiful examples to be found among Schubert's songs. The cycle shows Schubert at the height of his musical powers and maturity as a song composer.