Goerne og Andsnes: Die Winterreise at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

Two of the music world’s most eminent musical practitioners, German baritone Matthias Goerne and our very own magician at the piano Leif Ove Andsnes, interpret Winterreise, Schubert’s immortal song cycle.



“There are concerts that you wish would never end, but which could just as well end at any point because every single part is perfect,” wrote Dagbladet’s reviewer after Goerne and Andsnes’s concert at the Oslo Opera House in 2014. Now the star duo is finally back – with nothing less than what is possibly the most famous song cycle of all time.



Franz Schubert wrote Winterreise in the autumn of 1827, one year before his death at just 31 years of age. The song cycle consists of 24 songs, with lyrics by German poet Wilhelm Müller. Here, we meet a wanderer. He has been betrayed by his lover, and withdraws from people and the city. He roams around the frozen mountain landscape while moving ever deeper into his own distorted, inner world. The lyrics present the wanderer’s stream of consciousness, which is often coloured by self-pity and bleak insights. He compares his emotions to great images of nature, which combine with Schubert’s musical commentary. With desperate determination he speaks to himself, to his heart, to the snow, to his tears, to the frozen river and to the crow. As long as he can find words, he is not lost.

Andsnes and Goerne have both released award-winning recordings and sung and played on the world’s largest and most important stages. They have performed several concerts together, and know each other from events such as Risør Kammermusikkfest, where Andsnes was previously the festival’s musical director.