Schuberts - Winterreise - A Journey to the Abysses of the Soul

Description

Schubert's Winterreise – "this is not how you can or should interpret Winterreise" Duo ju:st Lied Julia Aldinger – Piano
Stefan Bien – Baritone Schubert's Winterreise is considered one of the most important song cycles of the Romantic era. Yet it is still often treated like a museum masterpiece: The singer stands beside the piano, the pianist accompanies, the audience listens reverently. But how can that be – with the energy, urgency, and inner radicalism of this music? Winterreise is not a beautiful song evening. It is a journey to the edges of the human condition. It tells of loneliness, alienation, loss, longing, and hope – states we all know. Far from role, title, origin, or life plan. This is exactly where the Duo ju:st Lied begins. Julia Aldinger and Stefan Bien approach Schubert's cycle scenically, dramatically, and spatially condensed. Their Winterreise is not a historical exhibit but a space of experience: immediate, vulnerable, intense. With courage, depth, and personal truth, they retell this masterpiece. They touch.
They irritate.
One thing they do not do: leave you cold. A Winterreise of our time This interpretation does not ask:
How was Schubert performed in the past? But:
What happens when this music truly passes through us again today? What happens when a person sets out, though inwardly exhausted?
When love, loss, and hope collide?
When cold suddenly becomes insight? In the duo's work, Winterreise becomes a journey through inner landscapes. Voice, piano, body, space, and silence relate to each other. From the classical song evening emerges an intense stage moment between concert, narration, and personal confession. Voices from the audience “You could hear a pin drop.” “I am exhausted but happy.” “I have heard Winterreise many times, but this was unique.” “You must have experienced a lot to sing like that.” “Ms. Aldinger plays Schubert with such ease – unique.” And contradiction is also part of this work: “No, that’s not possible, you can’t do it like that.” Because this Winterreise seeks no complacency. It seeks truth. Julia Aldinger – Piano Julia Aldinger comes from a German-Russian family of pianists. Her father early inspired her passion for classical music. Her studies took her to Dresden, Weimar, and St. Petersburg, as well as masterclasses with Peter Schreier, András Schiff, Gerold Huber, and Olaf Bär.
After intensive concert activity, she initially turned to family and worked as a scientist in cancer research at the Helmholtz Institute. In 2024, she returned as a song pianist and today teaches piano at the Landesgymnasium für Musik Dresden.
Her playing combines lightness, clarity, and a special sensitivity to language, breath, and spiritual spaces. Stefan Bien – Baritone Stefan Bien was managing director of an international company in online marketing – and at the same time a passionate singer. After burnout and a phase of deep exhaustion, he found his way back to himself through the Camino de Santiago, painting, and finally singing.
"You will surely find your way, toi, toi, toi," Thomas Quasthoff told him – giving a decisive impulse for his artistic path.
He received further important impulses through work with Jean-Noël Briend, Tobias Berndt, and Jan Fackelmann. With a vocal range of three octaves, he impresses with vocal complexity, depth, and colorful tonal nuances.
His interpretation of Winterreise is marked by personal experience, existential urgency, and the courage not only to sing Schubert's music but to live it. Two artists. Two biographies. One cycle. Julia Aldinger and Stefan Bien approach Schubert's Winterreise not from academic distance but from lived experience. The pianist, who returns to song art after years in science and family.
The singer, who finds his voice after exhaustion, upheaval, and reorientation. Thus arises an evening about leaving and finding again.
About silence and the return to language.
About cold, longing, and the quiet possibility of hope.

Highlights

• Performance of Schubert's Winterreise
• Duo ju:st Lied with Julia Aldinger and Stefan Bien
• Scenic and intense interpretation

General Information

The concert takes place at the Don Bosco Music and Cultural Center in Basel. The performance of Schubert's Winterreise is newly interpreted and thematizes loneliness, loss, and hope in an immediate way.

Location

Waldenburgerstrasse 34, 4052 Basel, Switzerland

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