Page 133 - Winterreise Coverage Book, 2021 - 22

At one point, Baillieu turned to me to say: “I must be able to see Ben breathing!” Yet their intuitive,
telepathic engagement, born of a long partnership in this music, meant they always breathed
together: their ability to sustain the intensity of Schubert’s masterpiece, with glints of light in the
darkness, was astounding.

By now, we had come to realise that Franz Schubert had struck a neo-Faustian bargain with us. We
had miraculously escaped Covid, but each of us had to experience for ourselves the anguish of the
sometimes delirious Wanderer that he describes so eloquently. In return, he allowed us to re-
imagine his wonderful music – perhaps the greatest song cycle ever written – in a distinctive way
that I hope would make him smile.

‘Winter Journey: Schubert’s Winterreise’ is on BBC Four tonight at 8pm