Roderick Williams and Iain Burnside complete their survey of Schubert’s song cycles with this recording of Winterreise. Composed in the late 1820s, towards the end of Schubert’s tragically short life, Winterreise (Winter Journey) is a setting of twenty-four poems by Wilhelm Müller and describes a traveller leaving the town which was the home of the object of his unrequited love, to embark on a long journey, through a chill, wintry landscape, which ends in near-suicidal despair.

This recording represents the culmination of a project that started back in 2015, when Williams accepted the challenge to prepare and perform all three song cycles in one season at the Wigmore Hall in London. Turning this challenge into a shared learning experience, Williams led workshops and study days as well as numerous performances in a variety of venues. His blog covers the entire project and is a fascinating document well-worth reading: http://rwschubertcycleproject.blogspot.com/

As in the case of the previous instalments (Schwanengesang and Die schöne Müllerin), also recorded at Potton Hall, Suffolk, Roderick Williams is accompanied by Iain Burnside, who plays a Steinway Model D.

‘Williams fires on all cylinders here... admirers won’t want to miss this’ – Gramophone (Schwanengesang, CHAN20126)

‘Roderick Williams is effortlessly boyish in the Beethoven, matched by Iain Burnside’s transparent sound’ – BBC Music (Schwanengesang, CHAN20126)

‘Williams sings intelligently, thoughtfully and beautifully, and both he and Burnside give the impression of having rethought and re-examined every song; they are also unusually faithful to Schubert’s markings’ – Gramophone (Die schöne Müllerin, CHAN20113)

‘The Williams-Burnside duo is seriously sympathetic, with the sort of imagination that ensures there is something new to hear after many hearings of this fine release’ – ClassicalSource.com (Die schöne Müllerin, CHAN20113)