Forgotten Songs

C’est l’extase langoureuse… when the music of Claude Debussy meets the poetic imagination of Paul Verlaine, the result is rarely less than seductive. Debussy’s sensuous Ariettes oubliées form the glowing heart of this recital from soprano Hilary Cronin, whose rise has been vertiginous since her triumph in the 2021 London Handel International Singing Competition. Opera News called her “the British Baroque soprano of the moment” but her interests extend far beyond Handel and Purcell; into Strauss, into Debussy and – as we’ll hear today – into the wonderfully characterful new music of Elena Langer, whose Nice Weather for Witches made such an impression in Oxford Song’s 2025 season.