Baritone Matthias Goerne (left) and pianist Sunwoo Yekwon participate in a press conference on Thursday at Grand Hyatt in Seoul. (Hansae Yes24 Foundation) German baritone Matthias Goerne and Korean pianist Sunwoo Yekwon join forces Sunday for a piece they each fell in love with: Schubert’s “Winterreise.”The two will perform the song cycle at Lotte Concert Hall in a concert organized by the Hansae Yes24 Foundation as its second classical music performance. After presenting its inaugural “Winterreise in Summer” in September 2024, the foundation chose to offer the same program again because of the significance the work carries, according to Baek Soo-mi, the foundation’s chairperson.“Usually domestic vocal performances focus on grand operas or popular recitals, but our Hansae Classic Lied series chose art song, which is a little special,” Baek told reporters during a press conference on Thursday. “Many people find lieder difficult or unfamiliar, but it is a genre that sets the poetry of the era’s finest poets to beautiful classical melodies.”Baek said the collaboration itself is the concert’s biggest draw. “What makes this performance special is the meeting of the two musicians. The combination will deliver a completely different emotion,” she said, adding that in Schubert’s lieder the pianist is not merely an accompanist but “another protagonist who carries the work’s narrative and emotion alongside the singer.” From left: Pianist Sunwoo Ye-kwon, baritone Matthias Goerne and Baek Soo-mi, chairperson of the Hansae Yes24 Foundation, pose for photos during a press conference on Thursday at Grand Hyatt in Seoul. (Hansae Yes24 Foundation) Goerne, 59, said he has performed the cycle more than 250 times across every continent, including Africa and Australia, and that the audience response is remarkably consistent. He recalled singing it in Svalbard, some 500 kilometers from the North Pole, before a community of about 2,400 residents — mostly scientists — speaking some 45 to 50 languages.“They are from all different cultures and languages, but their emotional reactions are the same,” he said.For Goerne, Schubert ranks alongside Bach as the most important composer in his life. “Without Schubert, I would never have become a singer,” he said. He discovered the composer as a young child through his classical-music-loving family. What sets Schubert apart, he said, is his ability to elevate text to a different dimension, drawing on a deep command of literature.He described “Winterreise” as a serious and philosophical work, but not a despairing one. The cycle’s 24 songs, he noted, are entirely independent of one another, bound only by the narrative of Wilhelm Muller’s poetry, which places a single human being at its center. The protagonist, burdened by a difficult past, walks out into nature and confronts wind, storm, cold and a profound loneliness.Asked what comfort the work might offer today’s listeners, Goerne pointed to a modern affliction. “We have huge societies, but so many of us feel alone — too much work, not enough communication,” he said, citing the isolating pull of smartphones and, now, artificial intelligence. “As long as humankind exists, ‘Winterreise’ will always have something fresh and revolutionary to say.”Sunwoo, 37, who in 2017 became the first Korean to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, called the chance to work with Goerne “a great honor,” describing him as a musician he has long admired and learned from through his recordings.He said Schubert holds a special place for him. “He is an intensely personal and human composer, so I try to prepare my mindset carefully and approach him that way,” Sunwoo said. He added that lieder demands humility and flexibility from the pianist, who must respond instantly to the singer’s breath while voicing the speaker’s inner landscape.The two musicians, who first rehearsed together in Europe, will continue their partnership with six concerts in the United States this fall alongside violinist Hilary Hahn.The performance takes place Sunday at Lotte Concert Hall in Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul.