Winterreise
Event description
Beaker Street Festival and Detached Cultural Organisation are proud to present an Archipelago production
Winterreise. Franz Schubert.
Schubert’s achingly beautiful meditation on mortality for solo voice and piano translated into modern English and arranged for countertenor.
This is the Winterreise as a journey. A journey into the black heart of a dying man - and into the perverted soul of this city.
A man in his bedroom sings a requiem to himself about lost love, birds, death and sad buskers. Splashed over him we see a point-of-view video portrait of Hobart, from dusk to sunrise. Empty streets and sweaty clubs. Angry boys and tottering heels. Hen’s nights and drunken uncles. Belching smelters and desolate forests. Tenderness and violence.
The sum of these parts is catharsis: Schubert’s sublime 24th song takes us into the soul of a man on the brink of death as we see the feeble winter sun rise over the Derwent.
Written after a diagnosis of syphilis, this music captures all the grace, longing and horror that only the doomed can truly appreciate. Winterreise is the culminating masterpiece of one of the greatest song writers ever to have lived.
This great gift to humanity is ours to honour, to savour and to revere. In an age of chronic loneliness and isolation, this music offers us an extraordinary statement on solitude and einsamkeit.
24 songs explore loss, rage, despair, transcendental beauty and sarcastic humour in a rich and detailed musical landscape.
A visual backdrop, and filmed document of Hobart and surrounds, makes this a bespoke piece of music cinema for the times, capturing the beauty and harshness of lutruita/Tasmania.
Featuring:
Ben Winspear – Director
Nicholas Tolputt – Countertenor
Amanda Hodder – Piano
Marty McGrath – Director of Photography
Jason James – Lighting Designer
From Archipelago Productions, in partnership with Detached Cultural Organisation and Beaker Street Festival.
This project received support from RANT Arts, the Tasmanian Government, and Salamanca Wharf Hotel.
Special thanks to DarkLab and Ralph Myers.
Doors 7pm, Performance 7:30pm
Duration 1hr 20min, no interval
COVID-19 Information:
All attendees will be required to check in to the venue using the Check-In TAS app. Please observe social distancing in bar areas and when queuing. If you are unwell, please stay home.
A Seat at the Table
Beaker Street Festival's pay-it-forward initiative, A Seat at the Table, helps make our science and art offerings accessible to those who can't afford to purchase a ticket. Ticket buyers have the option to donate towards the cost of a stranger's ticket. You won't know who you've helped, but your donation will go directly to allowing someone else to access this great event.
Need a seat at the table? Email: seatplease@beakerstreet.com.au with your name, email address, post code, your age (if you don't mind - it helps us gather data), which event you're interested in, and whether you would like one or two tickets. Your information will never be shared or made public. If we can offer you a seat, we'll notify you by email within a week of the event.
More about Beaker Street Festival
Beaker Street Festival is an annual celebration of science and art in lutruwita/Tasmania. Stop in to the Festival Hub at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery for fascinating talks by world-leading scientists, live music in the underground Speakeasy bar, art/science installations and performance, hands-on microscopy, and Tassie food and drink.
Venture further afield for the Sci Art Crawl around Hobart, a Dark Sky Party on at Spring Bay Mill, scientist-led tours and cruises, small-group talks and dinners with scientists on the Tassie Science Road Trip, and so much more! View the entire program at www.beakerstreet.com.au