Allan Clayton: Winterreise

Allan Clayton joins Aurora for Zender’s extraordinary reimagining of Schubert’s Winterreise.

Schubert’s wanderer, sung here by the “heart-melting voice” (Bachtrack) of Allan Clayton, embarks upon a winter’s journey in a vivid depiction of a human heart broken from unrequited love, set to the words of Wilhelm Müller.

“A work like Winterreise is an icon of our musical tradition, one of the great masterpieces of Europe. Do you do it justice if you only present it in the form that is usual today – two gentlemen in tails, Steinway, a usually very large hall –?” asks Hans Zender. Through his arrangement of Schubert’s much-loved song cycle, re-imagined for chamber orchestra (including guitar, soprano saxophone and accordion), he creates a new but equally moving perspective on this masterpiece.

Aurora and Clayton last joined forces for Zender’s re-imagining of the work in 2015, with the Telegraph labelling it “a triumph, which showed a new version of a masterpiece doesn’t have to be faithful to be true”. This time around will be no different, with the addition of immersive theatrical touches and lighting design.