On the Town: Some guests at a preview of Winterreise (A Winter's Journey) in Dublin's Temple Bar Gallery and Studios this week really felt the cold when they saw a series of short films which act as a counterpoint to the music of Schubert.
Winterreise features images of snow, ice and lonely wintry places filmed by artist Mariele Neudecker when she journeyed along the 60th degree of latitude, passing through the Shetland Islands, Helsinki, Oslo and St Petersburg, exploring the subjects of Schubert's sad songs about lost love and suicide.
"The film is about the journey of a lover who is travelling to find his love, which is a totally unrequited love - so it's about despair and depression," explained Noel Kelly, the gallery's newly appointed curator. "The whole journey personifies a lot of what we feel ourselves in life."
"It makes you feel really cold when you watch it," said Barbara Ibert, programme coordinator at the Goethe-Institut, Dublin.
Art critic Ciaran Bennett said it was "the bleakness of the lake and the ice on it" that he loved.
According to Diego Fasciati, of the Arts Council, the still quality of the images "forces you into the music and this forces you to meditate more".
Matthias Müller-Wieferig, director of the Goethe-Institut, said there will be a live performance by the Leeds-based Opera North company of Schubert's 24-part song cycle in the National Gallery of Ireland on Sunday, January 23rd, featuring bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams and pianist Christopher Gould, to accompany Neudecker's film.
Winterreise will be screened at the Temple Bar Gallery and Studios until Saturday, February 12th. Tickets for the National Gallery performance are available from the gallery (tel: 01-6710073) or from the Goethe-Institut Dublin (tel: 01-6024405)