I've prepared the four posts dedicated to the Schubertíada programme well in advance, otherwise it would be impossible (it’s hard enough even doing it this way. But the moment comes when we’ve savoured the final concert and I must have something ready to publish forty-eight hours later, and the thing is, nothing’s ready yet. On the one hand, my head is [...]

Some recordings become not only reference points, but legends. The transition from one to the other always carries a strong emotional component, which in this case is the premature death of the singer Kathleen Ferrier. The great contralto, with a brilliant career, died in 1953 at just forty-one years old. We can imagine the impact her passing had.

Last year, we listened to Alexander Zemlinsky for the first time here on Liederabend. I told you back then that the composer’s work had been largely forgotten after his death in 1942; fortunately, his name has reappeared in recent years, and his music is once again being recorded and performed (we’re speaking of a composer who was once highly regarded).

The poet Friedrich Klopstock dedicated many poems to his fiancée, later his wife, Margareta Moller; she often appears hidden under the name Cidli. Margareta and Friedrich met in 1751 and married in 1754. Sadly, the young woman died in childbirth in 1758, and the poet mourned her for many years, also in his verses. This is the case, for example, of this week’s poem [...]