[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Each of us has a journey in life. It's hard to separate ourselves from him. That's the most compelling thing we found while making the musical," she adds.

She says that although the production was inspired by Schubert's music, Zou wants to widen the scope and offer a whole new experience to the audience by combining classical music, dance, theater and technology.

The production team includes the multimedia designer Karl Klomp from the Netherlands, set designer Han Jiang and sound designer Zhang Ziqian from China.

Shen says Winter Journey is one of his favorite music pieces. The 32-year-old is the first Chinese baritone to record it in 2006. Shen won the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in April 2009.

Shen sings in Zou's production as well.

"It's not physically challenging but mentally exhausting to perform the piece," says Shen.