Warm voice, cold feelings: Winterreise in Berkeley

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 11 November 2017

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“Bostridge has found plenty of emotion in Winterreise, but he keeps it for himself and leaves us cold”

Reviewed at UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley on 10 November 2017

Schubert, Winterreise (W. Müller), D.911

Ian Bostridge, Tenor

Wenwen Du, Piano

Deborah Warner directs a memorable Turn of the Screw in Rome

Pia Maltri, 19th September

Following her Billy Budd and Peter Grimes, Deborah Warner directs a third Britten opera at the Teatro Costanzi.

****1

The Belgrade Philharmonic: a fine English orchestra

Peter Connors, 15th November

Howard Griffiths conducts English music in Belgrade. Ian Bostridge and Nikola Ćirić star and Britten's Serenade and Vaughan Williams' Fifth Symphony wow the Serbian audience.

****1

Gerhardt and Osborne honour Britten with sublime Aldeburgh recital

Christopher Woodley, 14th June

Alban Gerhardt and Steven Osborne offered a vivid and memorable reprise of Ben and Slava's iconic recital of 1961.

*****

Britten and Elgar challenge expectations at Symphony Hall

Simon Cummings, 14th June

Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO demonstrate the mercurial tension in Britten’s Serenade and Elgar’s First Symphony in the season finale.

****1

Mehldau and Bostridge’s tone-deaf folly at the Konzerthaus

Chanda VanderHart, 13th April

Brad Mehldau’s song cycle is a disappointment, the texts selected under the rubric of “desire” proving a major concern.

**111

Unhappy ever after: Gluck's Armide returns to Paris

David Karlin, 11th November

Excellent performances and stage direction make a good case for an opera that's on the slow side dramatically.

****1

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Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Ilana Walder-Biesanz is a product manager for Yahoo, a theatre and opera critic, and a classically trained mezzo-soprano. She explored theater and opera stagings as a Gates Scholar at Cambridge and as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany. She currently writes for Bachtrack, San Francisco Classical Voice, and Stark Insider. Twitter: @ilana_wb.

Warm voice, cold feelings: Bostridge sings Winterreise in Berkeley