Details
The Forum - Malvern Theatres
Grange Road
Great Malvern
Malvern
Worcestershire
WR14 3HB
England
Programme
Franz Schubert – Schwanengesang, D.957
Performers
Roderick Williams – baritone
Iain Burnside – piano
Other concerts in this Series (+)
Programme Note
Malvern Concert Club’s President, Roderick Williams OBE, and Iain Burnside return to Malvern for this last annual recital in their series encompassing all three of Schubert’s major song cycles. The five-star reviews and near-capacity houses in The Forum for their Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise are testament to these artists’ sublime interpretations of this repertoire.
The songs in Schwanengesang (‘Swansong’) were described by Schubert’s publisher Haslinger as ‘the final blooms of Schubert’s creative muse’. Containing some of Schubert’s greatest music, it tells no particular story, but the two sets of songs
are linked by their poetic themes – nature, love and separation in the case of the settings of Ludwig Rellstab; bitterness, loss and despair in the case of Heinrich Heine. The final song in Schwanengesang is by Johann Gabriel Seidl: Die Taubenpost, considered to be Schubert’s last song.
There is disagreement amongst both performers and academics as to whether Schwanengesang is strictly a cycle rather than just a song collection; either way, it is a masterpiece. In this afternoon’s performance, Roderick Williams and Iain Burnside present the main work in sections, interwoven by a generous selection of other songs by Schubert.
This is a full-length recital with interval and, with the blessing of our President, Malvern Concert Club will be dedicating this concert to the memory of Vice-President Ernie Kay MBE.