Irwin Gage . jonge liedduo's #2

Another song duo from Irwin Gage's class that we do not want you to miss out on! The young baritone Richard Burkhard and pianist Edward Rushton are astonishing young men. When we heard them for the first time in Martin's 'Sechs Monologue aus Jedermann' we held our breath from start to finish. It was a bloodcurdling interpretation of an enormously demanding score. Martin's 'Monologue' and other twentieth-century song cycles are the main focus in this programme, which has been intelligently devised around the themes of Spain and the War. In his song cycle 'A Shropshire Lad', the English composer George Butterworth describes how young men perished for their country. Something that he himself, ironically enough, did during the battle of the Somme in 1916. The song cycle by Edward Rushton, who is also the singer, is based on old Spanish texts that reflect upon the insanity of war and its violence. Towards the end, the programme takes on a much lighter tone with Don Quichotte's raging about the war, which is mainly in his own mind. Ravel's ironic comments are voiced through a variety of Spanish dance rhythms. To finish, they perform a rousing old drinking song with an extremely tipsy baritone!