Schubert: Die Winterriese DVD – Ralf Gothoni , Jorma Hynninen

Since Schubert wrote his song-cycle Die Winterreise (“Winter Journey”), its psychological implications have only become more meaningful. These 24 songs, to poems by Wilhelm Müller, chart a journey in which the disappointed lover experiences desolation in his mind as much as in the outside world, culminating in a nowhere encounter with an organ-grinder–with whom he finds common cause. The term “Existential” hadn’t been coined in the 1820s, but Winterreise sums up its central concerns with uncanny accuracy. Baritone Jorma Hynninen is a sensitive interpreter, neither overplaying the distinct character of each number, nor opting for a mood of sombre generalisation. Ralf Gothoni accompanies attentively, bringing out many subtleties in the spare piano writing. The setting of the Reidar Särestöniemi Museum in Lapland allows director Julie Didier to contrast the human ambience of the performing venue with the frozen landscape of the surroundings. Särestöniemi’s paintings, alive with mythological imagery, feature prominently, as does the bearded gentleman sitting beneath one of them. On the DVD: Die Winterreise on disc is presented in 4:3 picture format that reproduces with excellent clarity, as does the PCM Stereo sound. Subtitles are in English, French, German and Spanish, and each song can be accessed separately. The Arthaus trailer, focusing on Maria Callas and Poulenc, is pointless as a special feature, though the enclosed booklet gives an overview of composer, music and performers that is more than adequate. –Richard Whitehouse