This event is part of Perth Festival of the Arts
Scottish mezzo Rowan Hellier and pianist Sholto Kynoch present The Voice of Desire in this special lunchtime concert at Perth Festival of the Arts.
The Voice of Desire examines longing, and our collective human trait of never being quite satisfied with what we have! A gorgeous mix of songs by Scottish contemporary female composer Judith Weir and the brilliant English live-wire Kate Whitley, alongside two masters of German Lieder; Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms.
The programme opens with Eight Songs (Lieder und Gesänge) to texts by G. F. Daumer Op. 57 by Johannes Brahms. Of an unusual sensuality for Brahms, the texts are variations on the subject of intense passion and yearning from both male and female perspectives, set to some of Brahms’ most sublime music, as in the final Unbewegte laue Luft.
In The Voice of Desire by Judith Weir, each poem is a conversation between human and bird. Be it climate or conflict, the birds have a more sophisticated viewpoint than the human hearers. Has nature something to remind us, if only we would listen?
Written in the first weeks of her long-awaited marriage, Clara Schumann’s Sechs Lieder Op.13 are tiny, intimate jewels.
The recital closes with Kate Whitley's ethereal This Is my Love Poem for You, with words by contemporary British Egyptian poet, playwright and performer Sabrina Mahfouz: 'It’s a place I never knew until I knew you. Where tube maps of mistakes make sense; where the unaired space given to start breathing makes sense; where I, not just my borders, make sense.'
Lauded worldwide, Scottish mezzo Rowan Hellier is equally at home on the opera stage and concert platform. She has performed at Welsh National Opera and Berlin Staatsoper and appears regularly with the world’s leading orchestras. Sholto Kynoch is a sought-after pianist, specialising in song and chamber music. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Oxford Lieder Festival.
£16.50; Registered disabled/Unemployed/Students £14.50; Under 16s £11.50 (inc £1.50 booking fee per ticket); Carers go free when accompanying the person they care for
