12/11/22         ⏱︎ 8:30-9:30pm         ⚲ Kellertheater of the Stockalper Castle, Brig

Free entrance / Donations welcome
No reservation, open seating
70 minutes without interval

FRANZISKA HEINZEN SOPRANO
BENJAMIN MEAD PIANO

William Shakespeare offers fascinating insights into twisted and torn inner worlds of life and love as early as the late 16th century. A scenic song recital with poems & scenes based on texts by William Shakespeare featuring FRANZISKA HEINZEN (soprano) and BENJAMIN MEAD (piano).

Shakespeare's characters have not lost their relevance to this day due to their intensity, characterized by traits, development, language rhythm, and word combinations. Between archetypes and pioneers of romantic love, the characters provide an excellent template for expression, condensed through the art of song, which is why composers still engage with his psychograms today.

The focal point of the scenic song recital are the five characters Ophelia, Cleopatra, Juliet, Lady Macbeth, and Desdemona, in melodically ethereal settings by Wolfgang Rihm, Alexander Muno, and Manfred Trojahn, Elisabeth Maconchy, and Erich Korngold. The scenes, each culminating in disturbing experiences of love resulting in suicide or murder, are complemented by contemplations on love and death by Gerald Finzi, Erich Korngold, and Madeleine Dring.

TWELFTH NIGHT
Gerald Finzi (1901–1956): Come away, death

CLEOPATRA – CLEOPATRA & ANTHONY
Alexander Muno (*1979): Cleopatra. Four states of a Shakespearean character

OPHELIA – HAMLET
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907–1994): Ophelia’s song
Nikolai Medtner (1879–1951): Ophelia
Wolfgang Rihm (*1952): Ophelia Sings

CYMBELINE
Gerald Finzi (1901–1956): Fear no more the heat of the sun

LADY MACBETH
Manfred Trojahn (*1949): Lady Macbeth

DESDEMONA – OTHELLO
Erich Korngold (1897–1957): Four Shakespeare Songs