Winterreise in Riebeek

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Franz Shubert’s Winterreise - Robert Brooks and Gisela de Villiers – introduction to the work by Radio personality Nic de Jager

We thought that the winter of 2021 and the third wave of Covid would be an appropriate backdrop for a performance of Winterreise. Winterreise is a song cycle for voice and piano - a set of 24 poems written by Wihelm Müller, and composed by Schubert in 1827. Using minor keys, the mournful character reflects some of the personal trauma that Schubert himself was experiencing at the time.

Winterreise tells the story of a lonely traveller who ventures out into the snow on a journey to rid himself of his lost love, experiencing a turmoil of different emotions along the way.

Robert Brooks is an international tenor and Executive Director at Music is a Great Investment - MIAGI (NPO). Robert was born in KwaZulu-Natal, and matriculated from Dundee High School. He completed his professional studies in Europe, first at the Salzburg Mozarteum, and later the University for Music and Dramatic Art in Vienna. Robert has since been active as a singer mainly in Europe, singing a repertoire ranging from opera and lieder to tangos from Argentina. He performed at the Salzburg Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Wiener Festwochen, Wien Modern, Andras Schiff's Festival at Mondsee, and many others. He has sung with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra National du Paris, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, to name but a few, under the baton of Yehudi Menuhin, Herbert von Karajan, Nicolaus Harnoncourt and others. He has sung in many of the great theaters of the world, including the Vienna State Opera and La Scala Milano. Robert is closely associated with MIAGI, an NGO focussed on the young and music (See https://www.miagi.co.za) Robert will be joined on piano by Gisela de Villiers.

Gisela is a composer, pianist and cabaret artist. She has released several CD’s of her own compositions for voice and piano. Her choral compositions are published in South Africa and internationally. Gisela is national adjudicator for various Eisteddfods and ATKV Applous choir competitions. She has been giving vocal master classes and choir workshops at the Venice Biennale in Italy. Gisela’s solo programmes include impromptu vocal improvisations of texts and poems chosen by members of the audience. Gisela is also director of thec ompany ‘Infullvoice Productions’ training young singers and developing new talent.

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