Wanderlust: Schubert’s Wilderness Journey
Jack Eppler with pianist Ok Kyun Kang
The Premier Performance of Wanderlust was at
Clark Studio Theatre, Lincoln Center
in October 2018
I’m delighted to share our enthusiasm for Wanderlust, this wonderful story in song, in a way that we hope will make it accessible and easily understood.
We project all 450 translated lines of Die schöne Müllerin (the beautiful maid of the mill), and our team of lighting, projection, and set designers have created a world of color and imagery to transport the listener deep into the heart of this touching story of a young man’s joyful and terrifying journey into the wilderness, the bliss of falling in love, the heartbreak of betrayal, and ultimately reconciliation and healing through nature.
More about Wanderlust:
Wanderlust is a new way of presenting Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin (the beautiful mill maid). This musical masterwork from the Romantic Era was a seismic breakthrough in storytelling through song and a towering achievement for the composer. Die schöne Müllerin was the first time anyone had woven together a group of songs to tell a story from end to end, and they were the first songs conceived for singer and pianist as equal partners. Its tale of romantic obsession, sexual confusion, heartbreak, and transformation through nature is still relevant to today’s audience.
I first became fascinated with these songs nearly 50 years ago when I discovered a recording in my college library. The beauty of the music overwhelmed me, but it was only later that I became aware of the power of the words and the story. With my collaborator Ok Kyun Kang, I have enjoyed the magic of working in partnership with the piano, whose music brings to life the psychology and emotion underlying the text.
We tell this story in the original German language. Its sound is integral to the character of the work and essential to its cultural and emotional impact. To ensure it will be accessible and compelling to a modern audience, we simultaneously project the translations and use evocative imagery and theatrical lighting to draw the listener deep into the world of the songs.
Please call me if you’d like to know more.