Nicky Spence, tenor
The Piatti String Quartet
Julius Drake, piano

The phenomenal tenor Nicky Spence is known as one of the most charismatic figures of classical music. He was awarded ‘Personality of the Year’ by BBC Music Magazine in 2022, is a former winner of the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award, and Gramophone’s Solo Vocal Award. For the closing concert of this year’s Festival, he joins forces with the pre-eminent pianist Julius Drake and one of the UK’s finest string quartets. Together they perform Fauré’s great cycle La Bonne Chanson, which sets the poetry of Paul Verlaine. Marcel Proust was an early fan, writing that ‘it appears needlessly complex … but I don’t care, I adore it!’ After this, a series of tributes in song, with works by Schubert, Vaughan Williams, Poulenc, Coward and others, provide a truly exuberant finale.

Programme:
Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924)
La bonne chanson (1894) Op. 61
Une sainte en son auréole
Puisque l’aube grandit
La lune blanche
J’allais par des chemins perfides
J’ai presque peur, en vérité
Avant que tu ne t’en ailles
Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d’été
N’est-ce pas?
L’hiver a cessé