Allan Clayton goes on Australian Winter's Journey

Allan Clayton tours Australia in July with Schubert's Winterreise, in a new staging that incorporates the work of Australian painter Fred Williams (1927–1982). The performance is directed by Lindy Hume and includes videography by David Bergman that includes 24 of Williams' paintings, which represent Australian landscapes, rather than the snow-filled settings usually associated with the works.

In an interview with Australia Viva, which is promoting the tour, Hume explains: 'It's not like directing an opera because there aren't scenes between people and that's what I'm used to doing. It's a mono-drama and it's up to us to develop the journey and the why, the motivation for this character to go from the beginning to the end. I'm approaching it as an opera but I'm inspired by the Williams landscapes that are part of this conversation. I look into the piece, into the text and now into these images and what they say to each other... These are iconic Australian paintings and the colours are truly of this world. They're not the colours that Schubert or Müller were imagining when they were making this work. They are rich Australian colours and people watching the cycle will experience something that they recognise as an Australian experience, but it's contrasted in this work that is very European.'

Clayton has recently finished highly praised runs in both Peter Grimes at Royal Opera House and Hamlet at Metropolitan Opera.