Fred Thomas and Alice Zawadzki present a program of Schubert Lieder, lovingly chosen from the early 19th Century Viennese composer’s 600-strong songbook. Their project takes inspiration from film-maker David Lynch’s maxim: having caught an idea, don’t let it go! As Fred describes, “We’re trying to access a simpler way - both ancient and contemporary - of delivering song, one that sidesteps assumptions and embraces music lovers of all kinds. With the sound intimately close to the listener, our innermost thoughts are exposed by the tiniest details; in this micro universe, nuances become earth-shattering. The songs do their work through virtuosities of sound, stillness and psychology.”
Schubert is perhaps the subtlest songwriter in the Western classical music canon, a quality harnessed by Thomas and Zawadzki in their search for this hushed intensity. In this interior mode, audiences have the chance to hear what emerges when the unquestioned tropes of classical music performance practice are gently dismantled. Taking inspiration from the Schubertiades (intimate concerts held at people’s homes) of 1820s Vienna, this duo treat Schubert’s songs as living and breathing compositions, available to everybody. Beloved favourites such as Death and the Maiden are reevaluated alongside lesser known jewels, bringing to life the transformative Romantic poetry of Schubert’s young friends and contemporaries: Goethe, Müller, Schiller and many others. Long term collaborators, Fred and Alice have numerous albums out on ECM Records, including ‘Three or One’ and the recently released ‘Za Górami’. 2025 will see them record this Schubert program on the iconic German label.
About Fred Thomas: “A boundary-blurring composer and improviser” - Gramophone Magazine “Remarkable” - International Piano Magazine “Thomas is challenging the status quo of the classical music genre” - Vice “a revelation” - Apple Music “mesmerising” - BBC Music Magazine
About Alice Zawadzki: “A genuine original” - The Guardian “Tender in spirit and defiantly anti-genre" - Jazzwise Magazine “Zawadzki's larynx is a supple, expressive, rousing delight" - Mojo Magazine “A force to be reckoned with" - CLASH “A voice of velvet suppleness and gutsy emotional power” - The Arts Desk
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