Above : Kate Golla and Allan Clayton on set. Featured image- Allan Clayton journeys around the light box set, the piano and in front of Fred Williams’ artwork. Photography by David Cox.
For lucky me, this recent evening at Musica Viva’s inimitable A Winter’s Journey was a return trip. Not only could I witness the musicianship, dramatic focus and Schubert’s lieder interlocked so tightly and well with the projected landscapes of Fred Williams.
This enduring piece of ingenuity vividly highlights the creativity of Schubert’s 24 songs from Winterreise D911 (1827) plus the talent of Kate Golla (piano) and Allan Clayton MBE (tenor). The pair perform in a cutaway light box, Clayton wandering in and out of proximity with Golla’s piano and the moving, projected painting detail. He presses against the walls, rests beneath the piano and sings in lonely half-light outside of the projected space.
Seeing it in its initial presentation in 2022 was magical and the repeat was an even more solid swoop of scene-stealing storytelling through fine video design (David Bergman), evocative stage lighting of the pianist and tenor (Matthew Marshall, designer) plus of course this project’s visual arts resource, the progressive painting of Australian Fred Williams OBS (1922-1982)
Following the first time this light, music and heart-action piece wowed lightship loving Sydneysiders, and the nation, it travelled afar- to London’s Barbican no less.
Above: Allan Clayton macht eine Pause beneath Kate Golla’s descriptive piano in the reflections of Fred Williams artwork. Photo: David Cox.
We welcome this glistening, multi-faceted rendering back with open arms, excited familiarity or surprised first-time shock and a celebration of Schubert’s genius and the stunning work of local artist Fred Williams. Schubert lieder uses intimate combination of piano and voice-tackles torment not with indulgent fantasy and turgid romantic dreaminess but with descriptive clarity.
In this collection, the trajectories of each scene described with mindfulness (albeit totally heartbroken), so introspectively, and with such minutiae of detail in the vistas created or emotional metaphors to tackle. These are comfortably, stunningly brought to life on this inimitable set by Golla and Clayton. By now their partnership is strong their unique combined voice firmly interwoven with zero overplaying or over-singing and the somewhat mini-marathon run of this song cycle’s interpretation unfolds with measured ease.
Energies unfold in flux, in a project showcase that follows the journey of the main character’s plodding, lost, unrequited love with excellent momentum. Twenty-four lied with no interval could be a challenge for an audience, especially those new to the genre. However that did not seem to be the case when the crowd encountered or revisited this modern classic. The attractive accessibility of rewarding fans and encouraging new fans of Winterreise via the project’s luscious visual and musical landscapes make this event an exquisite jewel in Musica Viva’s next-generation crown.
Thematic ideas for each song or lied with their instantly engaging, varied colours and contours are tossed between this version’s agile vocalist and pianist. Contrasts of sorrow, fatigue, hallucination, weeping, anger and resignation are drawn vividly and in a compact manner by the pair.
Above: references to trees in Wilhelm Müller’s poetry were well catered for by the use of Fred Williams’ artworks. Photo: David Cox.
Allan Clayton’s phrasing and smooth shifts between volume, timbre and chest or head voice levels as he follows Lindy Hume’s poignantly less-is-more direction across the stage is a thing of wonder. It is an expression true to Schubert’s virtuosic use of shape and colour in his songwriting and an interpretation that along with Kate Golla turns this beloved nineteenth-century vocal masterpiece into a timeless entertainment.
Intimate moments (such as ‘’Frozen Tears’, ‘Rest’, ‘Last hope’ and the final ‘Organ Grinder’ resonated so well in the City Recital Hall space. The work ended in could-have-head-a-pindrop silence before the thunderous ovations.
Lieder which must have at Schubertiades so elegantly showcased Schubert’s accessible setting of Wilhelm Müller’s poetry were further enhanced here ( ‘Dream of Spring’, The mail coach’ and ‘The Linden Tree’ -in this salon with the most elegant and exciting landscape curtains imaginable.
Above: Pianist Kate Golla. Photo: David Cox.
This wealth of miniatures, memories and development of feelings in the winter walker also dipped brilliantly into the philosophical, deeply hurt in murky songs such as ‘A Backwards Glance’ ‘The Inn’ and ‘Phantom Suns’. Crystal clear piano textures and super-controlled singing managed contrast and surprise well when painting these emotional dips for us.
And finally in Sydney this project gives us dramatic vocal concert music other than opera with full subtitling, so the seventy-one minutes of German language needs no heads buried in programmes but instead allows full focus on the stunning set and performers.
A Winter’s Journey completes its Musica Viva National tour with a stop in Canberra on Friday February 27 and Adelaide on Tuesday March 3. Get urgent recommendations out via all modern Mail-Coaches so your interstate friends won’t miss what many were treated to this week in Sydney.
