Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano) James Rutherford & Eugene Asti

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano):
• 1 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 1, Gute Nacht 05:41
• 2 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 2, Die Wetterfahne 01:42
• 3 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 3, Gefrorne Tränen 02:22
• 4 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 4, Erstarrung 02:55
• 5 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 5, Der Lindenbaum 04:40
• 6 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 6, Wasserflut 03:50
• 7 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 7, Auf dem Flusse 03:23
• 8 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 8, Rückblick 02:04
• 9 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 9, Irrlicht 02:28
• 10 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 10, Rast 03:26
• 11 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 11, Frühlingstraum 03:49
• 12 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 12, Einsamkeit 02:53
• 13 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 13, Die Post 02:14
• 14 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 14, Der greise Kopf 02:41
• 15 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 15, Die Krähe 01:59
• 16 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 16, Letzte Hoffnung 01:57
• 17 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 17, Im Dorfe 03:18
• 18 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 18, Der stürmische Morgen 00:51
• 19 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 19, Täuschung 01:13
• 20 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 20, Der Wegweiser 04:09
• 21 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 21, Das Wirtshaus 04:20
• 22 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 22, Mut! 01:20
• 23 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 23, Die Nebensonnen 02:54
• 24 Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano): No. 24, Der Leiermann 03:26
• Total Runtime 01:09:35

Info for Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano)

When Franz Schubert in 1827 invited a friend to the first performance of his Winterreise, he called it "a cycle of horrifying songs". The texts that he had chosen to set were by the poet Wilhelm Müller, whose 24 poems form a psychodrama which starts with regret over a lost love but develops into an inner voyage in which a nameless Wanderer probes for answers to existential questions. There is no plot, no events in the external world: instead, we spy on fleeting emotions and thoughts. In setting these poems to music Schubert was confronting his own probable fate: Winterreise was completed the year before his death in 1828, at the age of 31, and he will have known that the syphilis he had contracted in late 1822 often led to insanity and paralysis before release in death. With this in mind, one understands why Schubert himself said that the cycle had cost him "more effort than any of my other songs".

Originally written for tenor voice, the songs are often heard transposed to other vocal ranges. Here the whole cycle is transposed a minor third down, to suit the baritone of James Rutherford. Primarily active as an opera singer – he is a Wagner specialist – Rutherford also enjoys a long-lasting partnership with pianist Eugene Asti. On BIS the two have previously released a recording of Schubert’s Schwanengesang – a very praised version.

James Rutherford, baritone
Eugene Asti, piano

James Rutherford
Since winning the inaugural Seattle Opera International Wagner competition in 2006, James Rutherford has become renowned for his interpretations of German romantic opera. He has sung Hans Sachs (“Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”) for the Bayreuth Festival (2010, 2011), Wiener Staatsoper, Hamburg Staatsoper, Cologne Opera, San Francisco Opera, Budapest Wagner Festival and Glyndebourne Festival; Wolfram (“Tannhäuser”) for San Francisco Opera; Kurwenal (“Tristan und Isolde”) for Washington National Opera; the title role in “Der Fliegende Holländer” for the Budapest Wagner Festival as well as Amfortas (“Parsifal”) and Holländer with the CBSO and Andris Nelsons.

His Strauss roles include Jochanaan (“Salome”) at the Wiener Staatsoper, Berlin Staatsoper and Opéra National de Montpellier; Mandryka (“Arabella”) with the Dutch National Opera, Hamburg Staatsoper and Liceu, Barcelona; Orestes (“Elektra”) for Hamburg Staatsoper and the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Faninal (“Der Rosenkavalier”) for Frankfurt Opera. Other appearances include the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, Scottish Opera and Opera North.

In 2009 he began a major association with the Graz Opera, singing his first Hans Sachs and returning for Barak (“Die Frau ohne Schatten”), Germont (“La Traviata”), Iago (“Otello”), Orestes (“Elektra”), Scarpia (“Tosca”) and the title roles in “Falstaff” and “Guillaume Tell”. Following a guest contract as Lysiart in a new production of “Euryanthe” in 2015, James began a long-term contract with the Frankfurt Opera. Highlights of his first season include a new production of “Der Fliegende Holländer” and his first Wotan/Wanderer in complete Ring cycles.

Plans for 2016/17 include Ford (“Falstaff”) and Mandryka at Frankfurt Opera and debuts at Deutsche Oper, Berlin as Wolfram and Stuttgart Opera as Holländer.

His recordings on the BIS label include a CD of early 20th Century English songs; Wagner arias with Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic and most recently Schubert “Schwanengesang” with the pianist Eugene Asti.

Booklet for Schubert: Winterreise, Op. 89, D. 911 (Arr. for Baritone & Piano)