DescriptionWinterreise, the Winter Journey, brings both the performer and the listener to the fundamental questions of humanity and existence. The human and social levels of the work remain pertinent and current. On the way home from the first night of recording, in Friedrichstraße train station, a man boards the S-Bahn train. He seems lost; his gaze wanders blurrily, his feet are bare. In Berlin, this sight is all too common; homeless people are numerous but marginalized in Berlin’s sprawling city. The man journeys only one station and then disembarks: we watch him on his wobbly course until the automatic doors of the train close. We think of Wintererreise’s last song Der Leiermann, the hurdy-gurdy player: invisible, alone, on his way, without a destination.
