Sophie
Karthäuser

Eugène Asti

‘Art, and above all music, serves to lift us up to the highest point possible above that which is.’ Gabriel Fauré’s aesthetic credo underlay his achievements in bringing French mélodie (art song) to its apogee and in his Requiem and his opera Pénélope. Later, Francis Poulenc raised the poetry of his time to a new height in compositions in which irony and delicacy were subtly balanced. Sophie Karthäuser links these masters of French mélodie with compositions from across the Rhine, which likewise raise poetry to great heights: the moving lieder of Clara Schumann and the dramatic compositions of Hugo Wolf. Audiences at La Monnaie remember Sophie Karthäuser’s performances in recent seasons in the roles of Ilia, Asteria, and, lately, Héro in Béatrice et Bénédict. She mischievously conveys her delight in singing these sublime poems without the mask of a character.

PROGRAMME

• Clara Schumann 6 Lieder, op. 13
• Hugo Wolf 4 Mignon-Lieder from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister
• Hugo Wolf 5 Mörike-Lieder
• Gabriel Fauré Automne (Silvestre), op. 18/3
• Francis Poulenc 3 Apollinaire Songs
• Francis Poulenc Tel jour telle nuit (Paul Éluard)