The lyrical theater of La Rambla opens tomorrow its ‘lieder’ cycle with a ‘Winterreise’ sprinkled with images of the renowned Catalan photographer.
Photography, an expression of social consciousness
According to Joan Fontcuberta, photography is “the manifestation of its subjectivity through a mechanical element”. Photographs have this magical power, they accompany us on a simple piece of paper that we keep in our wallets. They are able to replace a person who is no longer there, but who remains alive in these chemicals that form the image.
Winterreise, a winter journey towards death
The Liceu de Barcelona presents tomorrow Winterreise (The winter journey), a cycle of lieder (short lyrical works) composed by Franz Schubert based on poems by Wilhelm Müller. This winter journey develops from a character who can only find his final rest through death and his personal suffering. On this occasion, the Catalan photographer Joan Fontcuberta contributes with his photographic narrative to show, without wanting to hide the other elements, the disappearance of the inner reality of the protagonist. The artist offers brief hints at the ideas of melange, darkness and sadness to guide the viewer through fading memories.
Degraded images, time as an axis
To do this, he has degraded images: old photos that have lost their organic composition due to the effect of time. This element, time, forms the central axis of the work. The character suffers from a worsening memory and does not know for sure if what he has seen is real or, on the contrary, is to blame for his degraded memory.
The most human part
Fontcuberta has faced the project from its most human side. Close experiences with Alzheimer’s have pushed him to transmit his pain in the work. With a screen at the back of the stage, the viewer sees these images that he has searched for and photographed based on absolute respect for the original work. For the viewer, it is necessary to establish a series of codes to decipher what these images explain, clues found in the concert program.
The projection is made up of two types of photographic productions, some more natural and others that he describes as vaporous, and which make up “a calligraphy of oblivion”, explains Fontcuberta. Winterreise has more elements. For example, Susanna Rafart has composed a series of poems that come out during the act and that in themselves represent part of the process that the person is doing during this journey. This Alzheimer’s that shows a fragmented relationship with reality, which is explained through music, photography, poems…
