Belfast Music Society Celebrity Concerts 1/2/16 Programme

(008140 SUZANNE MURPHY-soprano INGRID SURGENOR - piano Liebst du um Schönheit Ich stand in dunkeln Träumen Am Strande vinioj bodeilduq agnos a'anal Frauenliebe und Leben Wenn du nur Dein blaues Auge Ach wende diesen Blick PROGRAMME Pastoral Song (My Mother bids me bind my hair) Mermaid Song She never told her love L'Invitation au Voyage Chanson Triste Extase 0 Ich trage meine Minne Schlechtes Wetter Traum durch die Dämmerung Zueignung Supported by the soap dailyn) Nimmersatte Liebe Ich hab' in Penne einen Liebsten wohnen ARTS COUNCIL ܀ ܀ Interval BEI CITY C Saturday, 3rd February 1996 Elmwood Hall at 7.30pm FAS: COUNCIL CLARA SCHUMANN BRAHMS Thamns to nov ind taol asi od jab evsiled tones WOLF nodol to gainoa aidh-sboste m asludium asl 0681 ova ampando go DUPARC AL HAYDN tisdndo mu ubjedl ROBERT SCHUMANN STRAUSS NATIONAL FEDERATION OF MUSIC SOCIETIES NEMS shoq org onsig

MANDAT Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Pastoral Song (Hunter) Mermaid Song (Hunter) She never told her love (Shakespeare) onsig саяба шя ИІ Haydn completed his two sets of English canzonettas, 12 songs in all, in 1794-5. Clara Schumann (ried ym bnid om abid odioM VM) ono avol had blos joven 1819-96 Robert Schumann's wife Clara was a talented pianist and composer, but she wrote little after their marriage. meanoribe NIC DO asmuent nls: Liebst du um Schönheit (Rückert) was one of three of Clara's songs published jointly with nine of Robert's in his cycle Liebesfrühling, op 37 of 1840. If you love for beauty ... for youth... for riches ... don't love me, but if you love for love, love me forever. Ich stand in dunkeln Träumen (Heine) is the first of Clara's op 13, dedicated to the Queen of Denmark. The poet stands gloomily looking at his beloved's picture. He cannot believe that he has lost her. it a529th baow do A Am Strande - this setting of Robert's beloved Burns was presented to him by Clara on Christmas Eve 1840. Its turbulent music compares a stormy sea to the lovers' pangs of separation. zoaned 1810-56 onniM oniom ogsu dal 15110W 237boldo? Robert Schumann Song cycle: Frauenliebe und Leben, op 42. Schumann's setting of eight of Chamisso's poems was composed in his annus mirabilis of song writing, 1840, the year of his joyful marriage to Clara. The mood of the cycle, with its masterful male and subservient female, was, of course, thoroughly typical of its time, but can only give today's listeners an uncomfortable feeling. So perhaps one should concentrate on the music! At the conclusion of the final song, the piano provides an epilogue that brings us back to the music (and key) of the opening song. Ti Seit ich ihn gesehen. Since I first saw him, I think I must be blind; wherever I look I see only him. Er, der Herrlichste von allen. He shines for me as does the distant star in the blue sky. If only he could be mine.

Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben. I can't believe it! He has chosen me before all others. Du Ring an meinem Finger. You ring on my finger, I press you devoutly to my lips and to my heart. Helft mir, ihr Schwestern. Help me, sisters, on this happy day; twine about my brow the myrtle blossom; help me overcome my fear and in reverence and humility bow to my lord. Süsser Freund, du blickest. Sweet friend, you gaze at me, astonished. Can't you understand why I am crying? It is with joy, that your image will soon smile at me from this cradle. An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust. Only she who nurses and loves the child she feeds knows what true love and happiness are. Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan. The joy of marriage and motherhood has turned to pain - her husband is dead, the world is empty. Johannes Brahms 1833-97 Brahms had become very close to Clara Schumann as she came to depend on him during Robert's last illness, and after his death. The actual nature of their relationship will probably never be known, but the songs of op. 57 (1871, poems by Daumer) are unashamedly love songs, and musically they make use of motifs that we know Brahms associated with Clara. We hear two of the set tonight: Tom ons 10 1291 610) Wenn du nur zuweilen lächelst. If only occasionally she would smile, he could bear her coolness towards him. Ach, wende diesen Blick. He begs his beloved not to look at him, lest his sleeping passion be revived. and between them, a setting of a poem by Groth from op. 59: Dein blaues Auge. The rejected lover gazes into the depths of a woman's eyes and finds them like blue lake water, cool and healing.

Hugo Wolf Wolf's 300 or so songs were largely composed in three bursts of awesome productiv- ity, sometimes two or three being completed in a day. Most date from the years 1888 to 1897; in that year his mental health collapsed and he spent the rest of his life in an asylum. It has been suggested that both his intense creativity and his breakdown were due to syphilis. His 53 settings of poems by Mörike were published in 1889. 1860-1903 Nimmersatte Liebe is not a poem for delicate tastes! That's how love is - it can't be quenched, even in 1000 years. We bit each other's lips until they bled - the more it hurts, the better I like it. Even for the wise King Solomon love wasn't different. For his Italian songbook, Wolf took translations by Paul Heyse of largely anonymous folksongs, setting them in two groups, completed in 1891 and 1896 respectively. Ich hab' in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen was composed on 25th April 1896 in the morning, and was designed as the conclusion to the cycle, hence the virtuoso piano postlude. I have a lover in Penna, boasts the singer, à la Don Giovanni, ... and another in Maremma ... in Ancona ... and ten in Castiglione! T9-8881 amden8 250merlot tud no basqub os omes oda za mnomor 2 ss of szolo sy sprosed bid amule Henri Duparc 193 laurbe siT.ilesh aid toits bos .22anili 25 (samo ed amsoq LT8D) TC go to got adi dawon 1848-1933 5790 videdong liw In total contrast to Wolf, Duparc composed little apart from a handful of songs - small in number, but each a perfect gem. In the 1880s Duparc's creative spark dried up, and for the rest of his long life he wrote no more. L'Invitation au Voyage. (Baudelaire, 1870). My child, my sister, how sweet it would be to go and live together, free from care, in that beautiful land that is so like you. bilat Chanson Triste. (Lahor; one of Duparc's first songs, published in 1868). In your heart there sleeps a moonbeam, and to escape this troublesome life, I shall drown myself in its light. to) do vd og slo gno wisd bos Extase. (Lahor, 1878). On a pale lily... on your pale breast, my heart is asleep, in a slumber sweet as death.

Richard Strauss Ich trage meine Minne (from five songs op 32 (1896), words by Henckell). I will keep my love hidden in my heart of hearts... You are in my thoughts both day and night. However black the sky is, my love will shine as brightly as the sun. alainA edginoT Schlechtes Wetter (from five Kleine Lieder op 69 (1918), words by Heine). In this witty song, that ends as one of Strauss' beloved waltzes, the poet sits at his window watching the storm raging, and, in the midst of it, a mother returning from the shops with the ingredients to bake a cake for her 'great big daughter'. 1864-1949 ban scored ovo le 29avod mo Traum durch die Dämmerung (from three songs op 29 (1895), words by Bierbaum). The sun has set, the stars appear, and I am going to a fair maid - I'm led to the land of lovers... eli Zueignung - Dedication. The poet gives thanks for the love and strength given by his loved one. storytudenin2 2765V 3281 18 2gbuj od lo sno Alec Macdonald si sgallo ziborist to todo el 10in2 T adw nous 1996 sw "anionsh" tallas es ibis bus ort w62 163 sasl bus Jadul YMO2 si no "slal na dzil to saib oloz 10 oloz. siazel anillo

Tonight's Artists SUZANNE MURPHY The Irish-born soprano Suzanne Murphy is particularly renowned for her interpretation of the major roles of Verdi, Puccini and Bellini. She began her studies with Veronica Dunne at the College of Music in Dublin in 1973 and joined Welsh National Opera in 1976. Subsequently, operatic engagements have taken her to the major opera houses all over Europe and America. Suzanne Murphy has an active concert career and apart from regular concerts throughout Britain recent engagements have included concerts in Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, an Armenian Gala at the Vienna State Opera and an extensive tour of Spain with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She appeared as one of the judges at last year's Sainsbury Choir of the Year competition when The Senior Girls' Choir of Methodist College reached the final. A solo recording of Puccini and Verdi arias called "Heroines" was released by Collins Classics in 1994, and last year saw the release of a solo disc of Irish songs entitled "There is an Isle" on the SONY label.

Tonight's Artists INGRID SURGENOR Ingrid Surgenor is one of Britain's busiest and most successful accompanists. Born in Belfast, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and studied further with Paul Hamburger and the legendary accompanist, Gerald Moore. She began her career as an opera repetiteur and in addition to many years' association with Welsh National Opera, Ingrid has also worked at Glyndebourne, Hong Kong, Taormina and Bayreuth Festivals. As an accompanist for recitals, Ingrid has worked over many years with the international tenor, Dennis O'Neill. Together they have performed on record, in televised recitals from opera houses in Italy and France, and at the Edinburgh Festival. As an official accompanist, Ingrid worked for many years for the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarships and has been official accompanist for the Cardiff Singer of the World competition since its inception. Next Concert Saturday, 9th March 1996 Škampa String Quartet Elmwood Hall ~ 7.30 pm