Schubert - Schwanengesang & songs by Benjamin Britten

Stephan Loges (baritone)
Michael Dussek (piano)

Britten – Songs and Proverbs of William Blake; Schubert - Schwanengesang

Pre-concert talk by Richard Wigmore at 7pm free to all ticket-holders

German baritone Stephan Loges makes a welcome return to the Festival, joined by equally renowned pianist Michael Dussek. They perform Britten’s powerful settings of Wiliam Blake, written in 1965 for Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who had three years earlier sung at the premiere of the War Requiem. In the second half, we hear the collection of Schubert songs know as Schwanengesang, his "swan song". Although they were not conceived by Schubert as a cycle and were only published as such posthumously, they make a remarkable and cohesive set of songs and have thus stood the test of time in this grouping.

PROGRAMME:

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

Songs and Proverbs of William Blake

1. Proverb I: The pride of the peacock
2. London
3. Proverb II: Prisons are built
4. The Chimney-Sweeper
5. Proverb III: The bird a nest
6. A Poison Tree
7. Proverb IV: Think in the morning
8. The Tyger
9. Proverb V: The tygers of wrath
10. The Fly
11. Proverb VI: The hours of folly
12. Ah! Sun-flower!
13. Proverb VII: To see a World
14. Every Night and Every Morn

INTERVAL

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Schwanengesang, D957

1. Liebesbotschaft (Ludwig Rellstab)
2. Kriegers Ahnung (Rellstab)
3. Frühlingssehnsucht (Rellstab)
4. Ständchen (Rellstab)
5. Aufenthalt (Rellstab)
6. In der Ferne (Rellstab)
7. Abschied (Rellstab)
8. Der Atlas (Heinrich Heine)
9. Ihr Bild (Heine)
10. Das Fischermädchen (Heine)
11. Die Stadt (Heine)
12. Am Meer (Heine)
13. Der Doppelgänger (Heine)
14. Taubenpost (Johann Seidl)