Katharina Ruckgaber (soprano) and Sholto Kynoch (piano)

German soprano Katharina Ruckgaber is fast gaining an enviable reputation around Europe, with recent performances at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Theater an der Wien and Wigmore Hall. She amazed the Festival audience last year, stepping in at short notice to give a stunning all-Schubert programme. Tonight, she presents Schumann’s great song cycle Frauenliebe und –leben, as well as six wonderful songs by Clara Schumann. After the interval, we hear songs by Claude Debussy (in the centenary of his death) and Charles Gounod (born 200 years ago), as well as works by Cécile Chaminade and Francis Poulenc.