Franz Schubert was the great singer/songwriter of the 19th century. He did not write for elegant concert halls, but for small, private circles. Many of the themes that Schubert intones in his late song cycles are very much of today: the fear of the unhoused, the longing for warmth and humanity, resistance to the rigid norms of the
norms of the establishment. When Gisbert zu Knyphausen places Schubert's songs next to his own, the parallels are immediately audible: there is a deep melancholy that connects both worlds of sound, a beauty that comes directly from pain. But there is also a hunger for life, for friendship and love, for intoxication and partying. When Gisbert sings of the "reverie of the night", we are right in the middle of the world of romantic experience. Kai Schumacher is a pianist, composer and wild
child of classical music. Together with Knyphausen, a very special sound is created: songs from Schubert's "Winterreise" and "Schwanengesang" meet songs by the successful singer/songwriter in new chamber music arrangements. Initially launched as a purely live project in cooperation with the Reeperbahn Festival Hamburg and the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra,
the premiere concerts, which were broadcast by ARTE and others, turned into a veritable frenzy, so that a joint album seemed inevitable, as did a tour. Kai Schumacher on the grand piano, Gisbert zu Knyphausen on acoustic guitar and microphone and Franz Schuber in their hearts - at the end of this special evening, it's hard to remember which piece was actually by whom.