09.11.2025

FLORIAN BOESCH & MUSICBANDA FRANUI | "Die schöne Müllerin"

Intense love, dreams, sorrow and despair: in Franz Schubert's ‘Die Schöne Müllerin’, the young miller’s apprentice experiences a wide range of emotions. The miller's daughter does not reciprocate his feelings, so he chooses the rushing river as his conversation partner. The boundary-crossing Tyrolean Musicbanda Franui brings a fresh take on the song cycle in a rather special way. Florian Boesch, whose previous recording of ‘Die Schöne Müllerin’ was Grammy-nominated, performs the piece accompanied by the instruments of the Musicbanda Franui, which range from the tuba to the hammered dulcimer and accordion to the harp. The third member of the trio is director and puppeteer Nikolaus Habjan. With the help of his life-size puppets, the 200-year-old, yet still relevant story of unfulfilled love is brought to life in a special evening of song, folk music and puppetry!

After sold-out performances at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Elbphilharmonie, the Bregenz Festival, in Gmunden and at the Salzburg Festival, Schubert's masterpiece was recorded live over three evenings in May 2024 by Musicbanda Franui and Florian Boesch at the Vienna Radiokulturhaus. The album will be released on the 14th of November 2025 by col-legno on CD, double LP and digitally on all known streaming platforms.

Unlike Schubert's Winterreise or Schumann's Liederkreise, Schubert's first major collection of songs tells a story: a young traveller falls in love with the miller's beautiful daughter and must ultimately realise that she prefers the handsome huntsman. Contrary to the common interpretation, the wanderer does not take his own life in this interpretation. The version of Schubert that is world-wearied is not necessarily further removed from the cliché than the version of Franz that is associated with folk music, to whom later generations attributed a tangible relationship with his roots, nature and love. Boesch and the Franuis avoid such preconceptions. One critic in Berlin heard ‘striking rhythms’ and echoes of Weill, Klezmer and modern music. Another review spoke of a ‘chamber play in the spiritual sphere’. The dialogue with Schubert’s mind and in his spirit can now be relived as an audio-theatrical experience on this recording.

Franz Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin
Musicbanda Franui
Florian Boesch
Label: col-legno
https://www.franui.at/