Following her visit to Pratt’s Place in August of 2015 for the first 23Arts Tri-Park Concert, acclaimed pianist Babette Hierholzer returns to the mountaintop for a performance of Schumann’s ‘Dichterliebe’ and Viktor Ullmann's 'Songbook of Hafiz' alongside Swiss baritone Äneas Humm.
About the repertoire:
Robert Schumann’s ‘Dichterliebe’ truly is one of the corner stones of the romantic art song repertoire. Schumann wrote this cycle of songs to the poems by Heinrich Heine in the year 1840, which is often called his “year of the songs”, because within one year Schumann wrote most of his songs. 1840 was also the year when Schumann finally was able to marry his love Clara Wieck. ‘Dichterliebe’ describes the journey from early emerging love to doubts and rejection and it has a bitter sweet connotation of despair and sorrow. Schumann dedicated this song cycle to his good friend and contemporary Felix Mendelssohn.
Exactly 100 years later, in 1940 Viktor Ullmann composed his song cycle ’Songbook of Hafiz’. We are introduced to the world of Persian poetry and find the protagonist Hafiz in different stages in life: “everything is predetermined in life", a state of being drunk and finally: a celebration of wine in a song of praise. Viktor Ullmann was branded as ‘degenerated art’ composer and perished in the concentration camp Theresienstadt.
About the artists:
Babette Hierholzer's debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1978 was followed by numerous performances with this famed orchestra, led by renowned conductors Klaus Tennstedt, Sir Colin Davis, Leopold Hager, and Semyon Bychkov. She has performed extensively in recital and chamber music, and as soloist with orchestras in most of the countries of Europe, the United States, South America, and Africa.
Äneas Humm is a well-known soloist and recitalist throughout Europe, and is told to be as one of the most upcoming singers. Humm has already been working with many important international teachers and musicians. He has also been engaged with several solo concerts in Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and the USA and is regularly invited to sing with European famous orchestras.
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