Liederabend in Krypta, Peterskirche

About the Event

Experience classical music like never before in this astonishing performance of masterworks by Schubert at Vienna's remarkable Krypta Peterskirche.

Two masters of their craft dedicate themselves to the most famous song cycle by Franz Schubert 'Winterreise': Georg Lehner, baritone & Stefan Donner on the concert grand piano. Both guarantee exquisite performances that resonate for a long time.

The texts of the 24 poems are by Wilhelm Müller (1794 — 1827) and were published in 1824. Schubert was very attracted by the poems and set them to music during the last years of his life. The first twelve songs were written in February 1827, after which the remaining twelve were probably set to music in the fall of the same year.

Located deep beneath St. Peter's Church in Vienna, the crypt provides the special setting for this. The immediate proximity to the artists opens up a new approach to classical music that is exciting for connoisseurs and newcomers alike.
The crypt is pleasantly temperate at any time of year.

Franz Schubert

During his rather short life, Franz Schubert, one of the fathers of romanticism in music, had always been an unappreciated genius who had never received public acclaim. Only his family and friends were delighted by his music, and most of his works were discovered and published only many years after his death. Franz Schubert was born on the 31th of March 1797 in the suburbs of Vienna. His father and eldest brother were amateur musicians and they taught him to play piano and violin. At the age of 11 Schubert was a singer in a choir at the Lichtenthal parish and later auditioned for Antonio Salieri and admitted to the emperor’s choir. During that period young Franz started composing his own works.

However, after his voice broke he had to leave the choir and in 1814 he started working as a teacher in the same parish school as his father. He never stopped composing and 4 years later he decided to quit teaching and devote his life completely to music. He fell out with his father because of that and struggled to make ends meet. In 1818 Schubert went to Vienna, where he met Vogl. Together they gave private concerts in small aristocratic circles, mainly playing Lieder, which Schubert wrote around 600. Franz Schubert gave only one big public concert in his whole life in March 1828, which was very warmly received by the audience. However, his health was deteriorating and in November the same year he died of thyroid fever at the age of 31.

Practical Information

program:
01. Gute Nacht
02. Die Wetterfahne
03. Gefror’ne Tränen
04. Erstarrung
05. Der Lindenbaum
06. Wasserflut
07. Auf dem Flusse
08. Rückblick
09. Irrlicht
10. Rast
11. Frühlingstraum
12. Einsamkeit
13. Die Post
14. Der greise Kopf
15. Die Krähe
16. Letzte Hoffnung
17. Im Dorfe
18. Der stürmische Morgen
19. Täuschung
20. Der Wegweiser
21. Das Wirtshaus
22. Mut
23. Die Nebensonnen
24. Der Leiermann