Page 145 - Winterreise Coverage Book, 2021 - 22
P. 145
27 January 2022
The first month of the new year has certainly seen challenges with the gradual return to live
concerts. While the Omicron variant forced the cancellation of several performances around
Boston, the Celebrity Series attempted to weather the surge by shifting all of this month’s
live events to a solely virtual platform. On Wednesday, Benjamin Appl made his series debut
via a recital, streamed live from Pickman Hall, as part of “Celebrity Series At Home.”
Unfortunately, the German baritone’s performance of Schubert’s Winterreise, marred by
technical interruptions in the livestream, only served as a reminder that there is no
substitute for live music.
Problems were apparent from the onset as the constant buffering caused whole verses of
“Gute Nacht” to go unheard. The simultaneous accompanying chat to Wednesday’s stream
revealed that other viewers were experiencing similar problems. And it wasn’t until the end
of the recital that the Celebrity Series reported that its technicians were dealing with
glitches in Pickman’s internet service.
The performance—no fault of Appl and pianist James Baillieu—was almost unlistenable.
Frustrating skips in the stream halted any build of the emotional tension that characterizes
Schubert’s song cycle.
