The foyer bells are ringing and you’re set to see a living legend perform an undisputed masterpiece. You know it well, and you settle back in your seat, feeling quite sure you know what to expect of this old musical friend.

But the vision on stage shatters your preconceptions and you come to realise that this wonderful work has yet another layer of meaning you had never noticed.

That’s exactly how it feels when acclaimed tenor Allan Clayton and pianist Kate Golla – directed by Lindy Hume – present Schubert’s final song cycle, A Winter’s Journey (Die Winterreise) immersed in Fred Williams’ landscapes.

Kate Golla and Allan Clayton perform A Winter’s Journey. Photo © David Cox

Die Winterreise depicts a nameless man who, spurned in love and consumed by his sense of loss, embarks on a solitary journey across a bleak wintry landscape. Lonely and melancholic, he rejects paths that would take him back to normal life but finds he is not ready for the graveyard. Quite bereft, he is left contemplating a solitary organ grinder staggering barefoot on the ice.

In the...