Having grown up both singing and playing the piano, Rachel Fenlon never understood why a musician couldn’t combine both. But it took a decade to gain the courage to sing and accompany herself on the piano publicly for the first time, in Toronto with an all-Schubert recital. This performance ignited a spark in Fenlon, and revealed to her a true path in music.

Over the past ten years, Fenlon has nurtured that spark despite many doubting it was possible, exploring various repertoire and performing globally at festivals and concert halls while becoming a firm believer that music will always offer itself to those who find their way to it.

When considering her first recording Schubert was the obvious choice, though deciding which piece was challenging. During the pandemic in winter 2020, Fenlon began studying Winterreise while living alone near a forest outside Berlin and often going days or weeks without seeing anyone. The work resonated deeply with her feelings of loneliness and solitude, and over two years she meticulously learned the piece, often reflecting on the text while walking in the forest to connect with the music.

In summer 2022, Fenlon performed Winterreise for the first time in Berlin and continued throughout the festival season, the profound connection she felt with the work solidifying her decision to record it.

Says Fenlon, 'I have never found, nor lost myself so much in a work as I have in Winterreise. To share my interpretation of this great work, and to add to the enormous canon of recordings, from the perspective of a singer sitting at the piano and accompanying myself, is the greatest gift I could ask for.'