Wiebke Lehmkuhl, Contralto
Andreas Willwohl, Viola
Julius Drake, Piano

Johannes Brahms
Wie rafft ich mich auf in der Nacht, Op. 32 No. 1
Über die Heide (Over the Heath), Op. 86 No. 4
Der Gang zum Liebchen (Visiting His Sweetheart), Op. 48 No. 1
Des Liebsten Schwur (My Sweetheart’s Promise), Op. 69 No. 4
O kühler Wald (Oh Cool Forest), Op. 72 No. 3
Von ewiger Liebe (Of Everlasting Love), Op. 43 No. 1

Benjamin Britten
A Charm of Lullabies for mezzo-soprano and piano, Op. 41

Johannes Brahms
2 Songs for Alto Voice, Viola and Piano, Op. 91
Sapphische Ode, Op. 94 No. 4

Gustav Mahler
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Rheinlegendchen

Johannes Brahms
Blinde Kuh (Blind Man’s Bluff), Op. 58 No. 1

Gustav Mahler
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt

Johannes Brahms
Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht (Death is the Cool Night), Op. 96 No. 1

Gustav Mahler
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Das irdische Leben

Johannes Brahms
Auf dem Kirchhofe (In the Churchyard), Op. 105 No. 4

Frank Bridge
3 Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano, H.76

Henry Purcell
Harmonia Sacra: An Evening Hymn on a Ground

ROGRAMME

Ivor Gurney Five Elizabethan Songs
Michael Head The Singer
Ralph Vaughan Williams Silent Noon
Rebecca Clarke A Dream
Frank Bridge Sigh no more ladies
Arr. Britten Sweet Polly Oliver
Madeleine Dring Business Girls; Song of a Nightclub Proprietress
Geoffrey Bush Cuisine Provençale; Sigh No More, Ladies
Ivor Novello We’ll gather lilacs
Noel Coward Alice is at it again; A bar on the Piccola Marina

Begin the weekend in true Two Moors Festival fashion with a delightful programme of English song, performed by one of the UK’s most treasured sopranos, Elizabeth Watts. A winner of the Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, Elizabeth, together with the acclaimed accompanist Julius Drake, will entertain and entrance you with songs by Ivor Gurney, Vaughan-Williams and Noel Coward among others. Enjoy an hour of world-class music from ‘one of the most beautiful voices Britain has produced in a generation’ (International Record Review).

Assistant director Isabelle Kettle • Scenography and costumes Justin Nardella • Lighting Jean Kalman • Lighting collaboration Yves Caizergues • Artistic coordination – Cultural Projects Workshop Claire Andries

Tenor Ian Bostridge • Piano Julius Drake

Production Centre International de Créations Théâtrales / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
Co-production Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, 
Premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath, Ustinov Studio (2024).

Deborah Warner, an internationally recognized theatre and opera director, has continued to push the boundaries of theatre and redefine the vocabulary of the stage through a body of work marked by raw energy and sharp intelligence. For the staging of Winterreise, Franz Schubert’s last great lieder cycle, she frees the performers, Ian Bostridge, a long-time enthusiast of this cycle and author of a fascinating and captivating book – “Schubert’s Winter Journey – Anatomy of an Obsession”, and Julius Drake, a key musician of the Lundis Musicaux de l’Athénée, from the constraints of a traditional recital to offer them a much wider range of artistic and scenic acting. A deeply moving work, a striking theatrical and musical experience.

Assistant director Isabelle Kettle • Scenography and costumes Justin Nardella • Lighting Jean Kalman • Lighting collaboration Yves Caizergues • Artistic coordination – Cultural Projects Workshop Claire Andries

Tenor Ian Bostridge • Piano Julius Drake

Production Centre International de Créations Théâtrales / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
Co-production Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, 
Premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath, Ustinov Studio (2024).

Deborah Warner, an internationally recognized theatre and opera director, has continued to push the boundaries of theatre and redefine the vocabulary of the stage through a body of work marked by raw energy and sharp intelligence. For the staging of Winterreise, Franz Schubert’s last great lieder cycle, she frees the performers, Ian Bostridge, a long-time enthusiast of this cycle and author of a fascinating and captivating book – “Schubert’s Winter Journey – Anatomy of an Obsession”, and Julius Drake, a key musician of the Lundis Musicaux de l’Athénée, from the constraints of a traditional recital to offer them a much wider range of artistic and scenic acting. A deeply moving work, a striking theatrical and musical experience.

Assistant director Isabelle Kettle • Scenography and costumes Justin Nardella • Lighting Jean Kalman • Lighting collaboration Yves Caizergues • Artistic coordination – Cultural Projects Workshop Claire Andries

Tenor Ian Bostridge • Piano Julius Drake

Production Centre International de Créations Théâtrales / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
Co-production Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, 
Premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath, Ustinov Studio (2024).

Deborah Warner, an internationally recognized theatre and opera director, has continued to push the boundaries of theatre and redefine the vocabulary of the stage through a body of work marked by raw energy and sharp intelligence. For the staging of Winterreise, Franz Schubert’s last great lieder cycle, she frees the performers, Ian Bostridge, a long-time enthusiast of this cycle and author of a fascinating and captivating book – “Schubert’s Winter Journey – Anatomy of an Obsession”, and Julius Drake, a key musician of the Lundis Musicaux de l’Athénée, from the constraints of a traditional recital to offer them a much wider range of artistic and scenic acting. A deeply moving work, a striking theatrical and musical experience.

Assistant director Isabelle Kettle • Scenography and costumes Justin Nardella • Lighting Jean Kalman • Lighting collaboration Yves Caizergues • Artistic coordination – Cultural Projects Workshop Claire Andries

Tenor Ian Bostridge • Piano Julius Drake

Production Centre International de Créations Théâtrales / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
Co-production Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, 
Premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath, Ustinov Studio (2024).

Deborah Warner, an internationally recognized theatre and opera director, has continued to push the boundaries of theatre and redefine the vocabulary of the stage through a body of work marked by raw energy and sharp intelligence. For the staging of Winterreise, Franz Schubert’s last great lieder cycle, she frees the performers, Ian Bostridge, a long-time enthusiast of this cycle and author of a fascinating and captivating book – “Schubert’s Winter Journey – Anatomy of an Obsession”, and Julius Drake, a key musician of the Lundis Musicaux de l’Athénée, from the constraints of a traditional recital to offer them a much wider range of artistic and scenic acting. A deeply moving work, a striking theatrical and musical experience.

Assistant director Isabelle Kettle • Scenography and costumes Justin Nardella • Lighting Jean Kalman • Lighting collaboration Yves Caizergues • Artistic coordination – Cultural Projects Workshop Claire Andries

Tenor Ian Bostridge • Piano Julius Drake

Production Centre International de Créations Théâtrales / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
Co-production Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, 
Premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath, Ustinov Studio (2024).

Deborah Warner, an internationally recognized theatre and opera director, has continued to push the boundaries of theatre and redefine the vocabulary of the stage through a body of work marked by raw energy and sharp intelligence. For the staging of Winterreise, Franz Schubert’s last great lieder cycle, she frees the performers, Ian Bostridge, a long-time enthusiast of this cycle and author of a fascinating and captivating book – “Schubert’s Winter Journey – Anatomy of an Obsession”, and Julius Drake, a key musician of the Lundis Musicaux de l’Athénée, from the constraints of a traditional recital to offer them a much wider range of artistic and scenic acting. A deeply moving work, a striking theatrical and musical experience.

Assistant director Isabelle Kettle • Scenography and costumes Justin Nardella • Lighting Jean Kalman • Lighting collaboration Yves Caizergues • Artistic coordination – Cultural Projects Workshop Claire Andries

Tenor Ian Bostridge • Piano Julius Drake

Production Centre International de Créations Théâtrales / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.
Co-production Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, 
Premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath, Ustinov Studio (2024).

Deborah Warner, an internationally recognized theatre and opera director, has continued to push the boundaries of theatre and redefine the vocabulary of the stage through a body of work marked by raw energy and sharp intelligence. For the staging of Winterreise, Franz Schubert’s last great lieder cycle, she frees the performers, Ian Bostridge, a long-time enthusiast of this cycle and author of a fascinating and captivating book – “Schubert’s Winter Journey – Anatomy of an Obsession”, and Julius Drake, a key musician of the Lundis Musicaux de l’Athénée, from the constraints of a traditional recital to offer them a much wider range of artistic and scenic acting. A deeply moving work, a striking theatrical and musical experience.

Günther Groissböck, bass
Julius Drake, piano

In this matinee recital, enjoy a rare Carnegie Hall appearance by Austrian bass Günther Groissböck, one of the world’s leading opera and lied singers. Accompanied by the exemplary Julius Drake, Groissböck performs selected works—including some rarities—by 19th-century master composers of song, including R. Schumann, Rott, Bruckner, Wolf, G. Mahler, and R. Strauss. The opportunity to witness this extraordinary singer—recently called “a revelation” at the Metropolitan Opera (The New York Times)—in his Zankel Hall recital debut is not to be missed.
Part of: Great Singers II: Jula Goldwurm Pure Voice Series

Program
R. SCHUMANN “Blondels Lied,” Op. 53, No. 1
R. SCHUMANN “Die feindlichen Brüder,” Op. 49, No. 2
R. SCHUMANN “Belsatzar,” Op. 57
R. SCHUMANN “Die beiden Grenadiere,” Op. 49, No. 1

ROTT “Der Sänger”
ROTT “Geistergruß”
ROTT “Wanderers Nachtlied”

BRUCKNER “Im April,” WAB 75
BRUCKNER “Herbstkummer,” WAB 72
BRUCKNER “Mein Herz und deine Stimme,” WAB 79

WOLF Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo

R. STRAUSS “Heimliche Aufforderung,” Op. 27, No. 3
R. STRAUSS “Zueignung,” Op. 10, No. 1
R. STRAUSS “Allerseelen,” Op. 10, No. 8
R. STRAUSS “Befreit,” Op. 39, No. 4

G. MAHLER Selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn

Günther Groissböck, bass
Julius Drake, piano

A commanding presence on the opera stage and a recitalist of the highest order, Austrian bass Günther Groissböck owns a voice of exceptional richness and warmth. His programme with regular duo partner Julius Drake includes Brahms’s late take on life’s transience and Shostakovich’s symphonic song cycle, first performed eight months before the composer’s death 50 years ago.

Programme

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
4 Serious Songs Op. 121

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Liederkreis Op. 39

INTERVAL

HANS PFITZNER (1869-1949)
4 Lieder Op. 32

DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti Op. 145