Irwin Gage . jonge liedduo's #1

'The new Gundula Janowitz or Elly Ameling', as the critic Stephan Moens called the young German soprano Caroline Melzer after her moving debut recital, which she gave here two seasons ago. Together with the delicate pianist Anette Fischer-Lichdi they can 'easily stand shoulder to shoulder with the very greatest', according to Moens. This was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful Lieder evenings we have ever experienced. We simply couldn't wait to invite this duo back again. In this recital they present a cleverly constructed programme that reflects the lives of several women. Schumann's popular song cycle based on from Chamisso's poems sketches a moving portrait of a young woman and her experiences with the love of her life from the moment that she meets him until his death. Themes of early happiness in love and a fatal accident return again in the sober, restrained and moving writing of the great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. In fact the poems inspired Prokofiev to write some of his purest and most intimate music. The poems by Hertha Kräftner are full of the same themes upon which the German composer Stefan Heucke (1959) bases his latest song cycle. Caroline Melzer and Anette Fischer-Lichdi perform the world premiere of these songs, dedicated to their mentor Irwin Gage.