Love’s Journey in Song: Ravel, Schumann, Strauss

Helen Lacey (soprano) and Alexandra Standing (pianist) bring this unique programme exploring Love’s depiction in song through time to Finchcocks. They will perform Ravel’s beautiful and impressionist song cycle Cinq mélodies populaires grecques – Greek folk songs, translated from the original to French by Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi.

Edvard Grieg’s six German songs are also included in the programme. Grieg was a prolific song composer, primarily writing in Norwegian and Danish. These six songs convey his exploration into the German language, setting a range of poets including Heine, Goethe and Geibel. They are a fantastic collection of soaring melodies, with an emotional range from the devastatingly sad to the staggeringly elated.

From 2019, Helen and Alexandra will both be students at the Royal Academy of Music, and the proceeds of this concert are in support of their studies. They have performed together since their early teens, as Young Musicians with the Finchcocks Charity in Tunbridge Wells. They have taken a variety of recital programmes to venues in the UK, including; North London Festival, Walbrook Music Trust, and this summer they will perform at Latitude Festival through BBC Radio 3 In-tune.

The concert itself will be held in the 300 year old main house at Finchcocks.