To the Distant Beloved

Presented in association with BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists Scheme, and recorded for future broadcast

American-Russian soprano Erika Baikoff is fast emerging as one of the most compelling lyric voices of her generation, praised for her ‘seraphically poignant’ artistry (Bachtrack). A current BBC New Generation Artist, she has already performed extensively around Europe and the US, and is a committed song recitalist in addition to her busy operatic schedule. She and Sholto Kynoch perform Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, a groundbreaking work of 1816 and one of the very first true song cycles. They then perform a remarkable 20th-century cycle, Rocking the Cradle, by the Polish-Russian composer and Shostakovich protégé Mieczysław Weinberg, before concluding with a ravishing group of Strauss songs.