Love, the fundamental archetype of humanity, with its emotions, desires, fears and fantasies has always been one of the cherished subjects of art and opera especially. Its main facets are the basis of the most exceptional masterpieces in the repertoire.

Two Richards are on the programme: firstly Richard Wagner, composer of Lohengrin and Tristan und Isolde, who opened the doors to sublime love, a love which, by calling upon the grand medieval recitals, is spelled with a capital L; secondly, Richard Strauss, composer of Salome, deadly, bloody and blind, adapted from one of the most terrible tales in the gospels of Mathew and Mark and which dizzyingly contrasts with his last Vier letzte Lieder. These four melodies, which are a sublime testament, describe the seasons of love as metaphors of time, in melancholic and gentle fashion. It is these many and extremely overwhelming facets that Caroline Wenborne and Alex Penda propose, inspiringly conducted by the Maestro Speranza Scappucci, in this exceptional recital that gives pride of place to the essential German romantics.

Program

PART I

Lohengrin, Richard Wagner • Prelude to the Act I

Vier Letzte Lieder, Richard Strauss (Caroline Wenborne, soprano)

PART II

Isolde’s death, Richard Wagner (for Orchestra)

Final of Salomé, Richard Strauss (Alex Penda, soprano)