Stark, desolate, contemplative. Winterreise, a cycle of songs by Franz Schubert, was the last musical production Pat Bishop worked on. It was staged, two weeks after her death, at the Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook, by Bishop's choir, The Lydians, on September 3 and 4. Winterreise is comprised of two sets of 12 songs, telling of a solitary winter journey, of lost love, and contemplating the grave. In an original twist in last weekend's production, the essence of each song was first rendered in local dialect poetry, told by Wendell Manwarren, before Cumberbatch sang them in their original German tongue. With its dark themes and chilly air, rendered with excellence by tenor Edward Cumberbatch, it seemed an appropriate epitaph for the late champion of local music and arts.
Ironically, at the time of Schubert's death, he was putting the finishing touches on Winterreise. Some pieces were accompanied by dance, with Allison Seepaul, Mondira Balkaransingh and Gregor Breedy performing pieces choreographed by Patricia Roe. The action was set against a stark white rectangular backdrop, framed with naked trees and two plain white benches, under cold lights. On piano, Lindy-Ann Bodden-Ritch sat, with tux-clad Cumberbatch standing beside her, centre stage. The dancers wore whimsical tunics, designed by Robert Las Heras, as Cumberbatch's voice gave passionate voice to the songs. Manwarren's "translations" were effective, helping the audience get a feel for the lyrics: "(I am) lonely and unrecognised...Oh, that the air should be so still! Oh, that the world should be so light! When the storms still raged, I was not so miserable," became: "I alone, not a breeze. And why it so bright? When it had hurricane, I wasn't so miserable."
And instead of: "A crow accompanied me/Since I left the town," the audience heard: "Since I leave, is whole time corbeau following me!" The programme thoughtfully provided the full text of the songs in German, as well as English translations. It also included a eulogy written by Lydians member, Barbara Jenkins, who wrote: "Pat had been going through A Winter Journey of the Soul for a long, long time. She had been soldiering on, putting the last of her energies into what she could do, while still hoping to persuade...the powers-that-be, that the key to this country's salvation lies...in human GDP-Greatest Development of all People, all people-through their myriad talents, their boundless creativity. And she died, while saying so, one last time. Is anyone listening?"
The production captured the desolate journey, the lonely traveller, far from home, far away from love.
At the end of Saturday's performance, the audience showed full appreciation with a standing ovation.
Winterreise was produced by the Lydians, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, and, by public demand, will be reprised on Saturday at the Little Carib Theatre, at 6.30 pm.
