Emotional roller coaster for Schubert songs

Tauranga Musica is hosting well-known New Zealand baritone David Griffiths accompanied by his wife Christine Griffiths on piano, in Schubert's famous song cycle Die Schöne Müllerin, based on poems by Wilhelm Müller.
It is the earliest extended song cycle to be widely performed and recorded and is considered one of Schubert's most important works.
Müller's poems were published in 1820 and Schubert set most of them to music between May and September 1823, while he was also writing his opera Fierrabras. He was 26 years old at the time.
Schubert omitted several of the poems, such as a prologue and an epilogue delivered by the poet. The work was published in 1824 under the title Die Schöne Müller, ein Zyklus von Liedern, gedichtet von Wilhelm Müller, which means, "The lovely maid of the mill, a song cycle to poems by Wilhelm Müller".
There are twenty songs in the cycle, and they move from cheerful optimism to despair and tragedy. At the beginning of the cycle, a young journeyman miller wanders happily through the countryside. He comes upon a brook, which he follows to a mill. He falls in love with the beautiful miller's daughter (the "Müllerin"), but who is out of his reach as he is only a journeyman.
He tries to impress her, but her response seems tentative. The young man is soon supplanted in her affections by a hunter clad in green, the colour of a ribbon he gave the girl. In his anguish he experiences an obsession with the colour green, then an extravagant death fantasy in which flowers sprout from his grave to express his undying love.
In the end, the young man despairs and drowns himself in the brook. The last number is a lullaby sung by the brook. The question remains: is the brook really the miller's friend or is it a friend like Mephistopheles in the Faust legend, who leads the miller to his downfall and destruction?
David Griffiths was born in Auckland and educated at the University of Auckland where he graduated Master of Music (1st Class) in 1973. Following this, he travelled to England and studied singing with Otakar Kraus and David Pollard. During this time he sang with the BBC Singers and was soloist with a number of provincial choral societies.
Upon his return to New Zealand he won the New Zealand Herald Aria Competition and the 1983 Mobil Song Quest.
Since then he has built a reputation as one of New Zealand's leading recitalists and opera and oratorio soloists. He has sung with all the major Choral Societies in New Zealand, has had roles with Opera Otago and appears regularly with NBR Opera NZ. His international experience includes recitals and Oratorio appearances in England, Germany, the United States, China and Taiwan.
He has performed in several of the Wellington International Festivals of the Arts and can be heard frequently in recital on Radio New Zealand's Concert FM.
Recently he premiered in the title role of Prof John Rimmer's new Opera Galileo and sang in the premiere of John Psathas Orpheus in Rarohenga.
In 2005 David sang the title role in the Death of Klinghoffer with NBR New Zealand Opera and the NZSO and the role of the Doctor in La Traviata with NBR New Zealand Opera.
In 2007 he was in China where he sang recitals in Beijing and Inner Mongolia.
Griffiths has had success with his recent own operatic compositions namely, The Woman from Moab, 3 Franks and The White Lady. His most recent opera Mary Muller - The Secret Suffragette has recently been premiered at the WEL Trust Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato where he is currently senior lecturer in vocal studies. Christine Griffiths is well known in recital in many countries and as accompanist for Griffiths overseas and in New Zealand.
She studied piano at Auckland University with Janetta McStay and Brian Sayer.
Details
Die Schöne Müllerin - Schubert
Sunday, June 26, Mills Reef Winery, 7pm