GOETHE, HAFIZ AND THE LURE OF THE ORIENT IN SONG

MAY 22, 2013 | Kings Place, London

Special appearance by François Le Roux baritone
Benjamin Appl baritone
Madeleine Pierard soprano
Sanaz Sotoudeh piano

Illustrated talk by Richard Wigmore

Illustrated presentation by Ben Street

Program
Schubert 'Versunken', 'Geheimes', 'Du bist die Ruh'
Strauss 'Gesänge des Orients', Op.77 (excerpts)
Schubert 'Suleika I'
Mendelssohn 'Suleika', Op.34 No.4
Wolf 'Was in der Schenke waren heute', 'Trunken müssen wir alle sein!', Phänomen'
Ravel 'Shéhérazade' (excerpts)
Saint-Saëns 'Mélodies Persanes', Op.26 (excerpts)
Fauré 'Les roses d’Ispahan', Op.39 No.4

The great Goethe, when in his sixties, fell under the spell of Hafiz, the 14th century Persian poet. Hafiz’s poetry inspired Goethe to create the ‘West-Östlicher Divan’ – a collection of love poems, epigrams and drinking songs. Goethe’s verses in turn inspired composers such as Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn, while poems of Hafiz were set to music by Hugo Wolf and Richard Strauss. Join us as we explore Europe’s century-long love affair with the Orient through poetry, painting and song