Included in this evenings performance is Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben Op 42 (A Woman’s Love and Life) and Ryan Wigglesworth's new work, with additional songs by Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, Herbert Howells and Sally Beamish. Schumann's hugely popular song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben is today regarded as a pivotal work in the soprano repertoire. The words, with a female narrator at their heart, focus exclusively on a woman’s experience of love. And yet, the poems were written by male German poet and botanist Adelbert von Chamisso, and the first public performance, with Robert Schumann’s wife Clara at the piano, was given by a baritone, Julius Stockhausen.
Our Singer-in-Residence, Roderick Williams, challenges himself to come to terms with shifting perspectives in the performance and understanding of music, presented in a thought-provoking evening of mesmerising music featuring a new work by Ryan Wigglesworth.
From Wincobank, Sheffield, Ryan Wigglesworth has come a long way since he was a chorister at Sheffield Cathedral! He is one of the foremost composer-conductors of his generation, having been Principal Guest Conductor of The Hallé Orchestra from 2015 to 2018 and Composer-in-Residence at English National Opera.
Post-concert conversation, free
All ticket holders are invited to stay on for an informal Q&A session with Roderick Williams after the concert.
“It would be hard to imagine music more seductive in atmosphere” The Financial Times on Ryan Wigglesworth
“Thank you for an amazing performance tonight. Spellbinding and masterful.”