Matters of the Heart: Robert Schumann, Richard Strauss

Featuring

Sarah Brady
Stephen Delaney
Richard Strauss
Robert Schumann

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Performer Biography

Sarah Brady, an Irish soprano, was nominated as "Upcoming Artist of the Year" by Opernwelt in 2019/2020 and is currently an ensemble member at the Staatsoper Hannover.

Interpretation

The performers deliberately intersperse Richard Strauss's songs and piano works within Schumann's cycle to expand on emotional themes and introduce lighter, more proactive female perspectives.

Compositional Technique

Stephen Delaney's piano interpretation incorporates 19th-century practices, such as delaying melodic lines, playing simultaneously noted tones non-synchronously, and arpeggiating chords, influenced by historical sources.

Performer Biography

Stephen Delaney, an Australian pianist and conductor, has performed at prestigious venues like the Musikverein Wien and the National Concert Hall in Dublin, and was director of OperAvenir, Theater Basel's opera studio.

Composition History

Robert Schumann's song cycle "Frauenliebe und -leben" (A Woman's Love and Life) is based on poems by Adelbert von Chamisso, which depict a woman's life as perceived in the 19th century.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Schumann, as a dramaturg, chose to end his cycle "Frauenliebe und -leben" dramatically with the husband's death, omitting Chamisso's later poem where the protagonist blesses her granddaughter.