La Monnaie / De Munt LA MONNAIE / DE MUNT
Vocalissimo

Nicky Spence & Dylan Perez

Presentation

Upon the street they lie
Beside the broken stone:
The blood of children stares from the broken stone.
Death came out of the sky
In the bright afternoon:
Darkness slanted over the bright afternoon.

-- The Children (Benjamin Britten / W. Soutar)

Composer Benjamin Britten’s Who are these Children? is a heart-rending indictment of the violence and horrors every war inflicts on children. At a time when children's blood is once again staring out at us from the debris of war on the European continent, Nicky Spence and Dylan Perez open their recital with this haunting cycle. Sadly, some of the songs could pass as live news coverage today.

Yet the Scottish tenor and the American pianist also want to provide perspective. Inspired by their own collaboration, they acknowledge what happens when cultures do come together. The programme celebrates Scottish and American poets and composers, as well as the two musicians’ own roots, through themes such as childhood, loss of innocence and ecstatic love.

Read the programme

Downloads

Dates & tickets

Location

La Monnaie

Prices

Cat. A - € 46 / Cat. B - € 38
Cat. C - € 24 / Cat. D - € 10

Running time

1h15 (including one intermission)

Streaming

Broadcast on Musiq3
5.5.2022
--
Broadcast on Klara
28.5.2022

Programme

Benjamin Britten

Who are these children? (W. Soutar), op.84

Thomas Adès
- Come unto these yellow sands
- Full Fathom Five

Charles Griffes
Three poems of Fiona Macleod (William Sharp), op.11

Samuel Barber
Knoxville: Summer of 1915
(James Agee), op. 24

Margaret Bonds
Songs of the Seasons (L. Hughes)

Stephen Sondheim
- Broadway Baby
- Losing my Mind
- Anyone Can Whistle
- The Girls of Summer
- Love is in the air

Dates & tickets

Dates

Cast
Cast

TenoreNICKY SPENCE
PianoDYLAN PEREZ

ProductionLA MONNAIE / DE MUNT