CD


“A moving, bold album that broadens horizons and ears!
It is a play between the familiar and the foreign, which Maximilian Guth and the Asambura Ensemble celebrate with great sensitivity. They succeed so well that the musical cultures seamlessly merge.
With the 19-member Asambura Ensemble, Maximilian Guth has not only deeply internalized Schubert’s cosmos but has also expanded it.”

Susanne Schmerda | Bayerischer Rundfunk



“At the end of this unique Winterreise, the two wanderers discover their own language through music and emotions, and in doing so, find each other in their solitude.”

Joanna Thurow | Bayerischer Rundfunk
Album of the month December 2020


“The intercultural Winterreise of the Asambura Ensemble is not only a musical stroke of luck. It reminds us, both metaphorically and concretely, of the wonderful ability of people to be a home for one another.
With power, music, and words, the intercultural Winterreise also calls upon the responsibility of the privileged among us: to welcome the foreigner. The enrichment in this is shown as poignantly as only music can
.”

Friederike Ankele |  Head of the Cultural Office Hannover


“This music deconstructs cultural axioms and combines them anew. It challenges us once again to see our personal fate in a broader, global context, offering reflections on society and humanity. Through its intercultural and interreligious ensemble, the Asambura Ensemble can approach the interpretation with such a high level of compassion and vulnerability that the musical performance and material become not only believable but leave me deeply moved.”

Stefan Pillhofer | Orchestergraben-Blog


“Hypnotising, disorientating and transformativ – fruitless to resists and impossible not to pursue. […] I have been made re-listen and to re-think found myself gradually drawn into a world which is neither eastern nor western, but something which is indeed both ‘rich and strange’.
This reimagined winter journey has the power to speak to individuals, and potentially to join and to bind them.”

Claire Seymour | Musicweb International

Our first album, FREMD BIN ICH EINGEZOGEN, was released by decurio a Berlin-based label dedicated to innovative approaches to classical music. The cycle presents an intercultural and sonic-literary reinterpretation of Schubert’s Winterreise, featuring Yannick Spanier and Mehdi Saei as vocal soloists. FREMD BIN ICH EINGEZOGEN was named Album of the Month by Bayerischer Rundfunk in December 2020 and was nominated for the OPUS KLASSIK 2021 in three categories: Ensemble of the Year, Composer of the Year, and Classical Music Without Borders.”

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“The instrumental moments of the intercultural Winterreise unfold a very peculiar pull. As the piece by Schubert hints at, it drifts toward eastern meditation and also returns to the familiar melodies. Maximilian Guth has composed this not only with imagination but also with great respect.”

Marcus Stäbler | NDR KULTUR



“It is fantastic music with the highest emotional intensity! The colors that Maximilian Guth and the Asambura Ensemble create are breathtaking!“

Prof. Dr. Eckart Altenmüller


“Time and again, the variety and refinement of the instrumentation surprise. The CD is technically excellent; it creates an atmospheric overall sound, yet also clearly outlines the many intricate figures of the instrumental soloists. The composition, with its suggestive power, is sure to leave no sensitive listener or Schubert admirer indifferent.”

Prof. Christoph Hempel – Neue Zeitschrift für Musik


“Kammermusically vivid, the asambura ensemble brings to life the fragile states of mind of the lonely wanderer. This intercultural reinterpretation never feels forced. With a final paraphrase of the ‘Leiermann,’ the asambura ensemble laments flight and alienation—things that, in this world, will likely never end.”

Christine Adam | Badische Zeitung


“The asambura ensemble consists of masters of musical alchemy and almost finds the philosopher’s stone. Alienation, disappointment, and longing are transformed here from the wounds of a monomaniacal loner into a philanthropic dialogue of songs. Yannick Spanier for Schubert and Mehdi Saei with Iranian ghazals sing as vocal twins, both bass-baritones. The non-European musical idioms do not compete with the enchanting arrangements of Schubert’s lieder, whose almost lost shock effect, due to their omnipresence, turns into a broad and even comforting rhapsody.”

Neue Musikzeitung Magazin NMZ


“Schubert’s Winterreise has been continued interculturally and sonically by the musicians of the asambura ensemble with their diverse musical backgrounds. In doing so, Maximilian Guth’s reinterpretation evokes the longing for home and belonging that connects us across all cultures and times. Musically, Guth presents the panoramic vision of an encounter on equal terms, where the temperaments of the other remain both recognizable and palpable.”

Maher Farkouh – Musikwissenschaftler 


“It begins like an improvisation on the most beautiful melodies from the Winterreise, exotically grounded with string and plucked instruments from another world.
Here, Schubert’s motif of the crow is present, there a Persian song with its typical sighs and melismas, and in the clarinet’s jubilant tones, a hint of klezmer emerges.
When the pounding of the prepared piano adds a touch of new music, the friction of contrasts becomes complete.

The intercultural asambura ensemble, led by composer Maximilian Guth, has extracted the themes of foreignness, loneliness, and being on the move from Schubert’s most famous song cycle and reinterpreted them as a resonant commentary on our time of significant movements of displaced persons.”

Susanne Benda, fono forum


“The work captivates and draws the listener in. Soundscapes are replaced by rhythmically percussive passages. The transitions are seamless and organic. In the end, almost 80 minutes of playing time pass by in the blink of an eye.”

Christian Helming | Mindener Tageblatt


“The asambura ensemble once again enchants with its instrumental singing and a fascinating richness of color. What I find particularly moving is the transition between Die letzte Hoffnung and Wegweiser. There, the music once again moves between different sound worlds before quietly sneaking back into Schubert’s footsteps.”

Marcus Stäbler | NDR KULTUR


“Guth consistently achieves a spiritual synthesis in his arrangements that is much more than typical crossover and recomposed experiments. And the singing is also marvelous: by Yannick Spanier from the Hanover State Opera.”

Stefan Arndt | Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung HAZ


“The asambura ensemble interprets its version of the cycle in a notably more radical way, reading the story of the homeless wanderer as a reflection on the refugee movements of our time. Schubert can endure this. No, more than that, his songs break free from their romantic shell.”

Susanne Benda | Stuttgarter Zeitung


“A perfect fusion of musical cultures.
The asambura ensemble brings out delicate nuances, presenting itself as a unified whole, where each voice has its rightful place. Artistic worlds enter into dialogue and merge together.
What a brilliant idea to juxtapose texts with similar themes from completely different cultures and musically connect them in a single work. Here, there is an opportunity to add a whole new dimension to classical music and open it up to new audiences.
With this piece, Guth has created a true masterpiece that couldn’t be more relevant.
The music is sad, beautiful, moving – and hopeful.”

Leonie Bünsch | Klassik begeistert