Song Recital – Schumann & Shostakovich

Sat 19th July at 5pm – Sebastian Black (piano), and Hugh Herman-Wilson (baritone) will perform works by Schumann 6 Poems and Requiem Op.90, Shostakovich: Suite and Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti.

In Sebastian’s words: “This recital pairs two extraordinary and unusual song cycles: Schumann’s Sechs Gedichte und Requiem, a tightly constructed late work written just before his final illness, and Shostakovich’s Michelangelo Songs, composed in 1974 and built around terse, sculptural settings of Renaissance Italian texts. Both works show their composers writing in stripped-back, economical language – Schumann in miniature Romantic scenes, Shostakovich in broad, declamatory strokes.”

Hugo Herman Wilson has performed with ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants and Vox Luminis, and has appeared at major international venues including the Philharmonie de Paris, Tanglewood and the Lucerne Festival. In a recent performance of Purcell’s The Fairie Queen at the BBC Proms, he was described by the Guardian as being ‘a real stage animal, who dominated the ensemble with acting and singing of great subtlety and wit’.

He is joined at the piano by composer Sebastian Black, whose work has in recent years been featured by such international ensembles and organisations as Ensemble Modern, Lucerne Festival, Ensemble Ars Nova, Quatuor Agate and the WDR. He recently contributed to Het Concertgebouw’s Mahler Festival with a new work commissioned by Mahler Foundation premiered at the Concertgebouw by New European Ensemble.

Click here for tickets.