Neapolitan Songs

Bryan Benner is a modern-day troubadour and the genius behind The Erlkings, the Schubert-based band who have given many memorable performances at the Festival. We hear him in a new light today: with his long-standing duo partner Václav Fuksa, he performs a programme of enchanting Neapolitan songs - repertoire often overlooked in the classical music world. Their performances together have been hailed throughout Europe and this is a perfect part of our day of Italian music.

Just as the art song developed in Central Europe, Naples cultivated over centuries its own vocal tradition of remarkable artistic refinement—a spirited, lyrical sister to the Central European Lied. Here, classical music and folk song merged in a unique way: opera arias became folk songs, and folk melodies found their way onto the operatic stage.

Their Neapolitan Songs program is based on arrangements by the legendary duo Cigliano & Gangi—performed on the very same guitars with which they once made concert history. Join them on a musical vacanza to Naples, featuring songs spanning five centuries—from the Renaissance to the canzoni of the 1950s. It is an evening that moves between concert and conversation, captivating not only through music but also by shedding new light on a rich yet little-known cultural tradition that has developed over centuries.