We distribute our CD`s on our own without involving a big publishing house,. For us, the time of realisation (recording studio, arranging it, marketing, and concert evenings) was a fascinating experience.
The biography and artistic development of the composers and their journey as a couple are told as an ongoing story. Here the story of their relationship makes the most interesting and informative part of the evening.
The texts which are written and recited by Angela Kentsch are precisely matched to the songs. Text and music form a dialogue and in this way their effect is enhanced. Where words can only hint at something the meaning is made clear in the music.
Angela Kentsch speaks the texts herself. Due to her ability to change from speech to singing an intense unity of the programme is created which captures listeners who have not previously been fans of Lieder (songs) as an art form. Mari Kitagawa is not only a congenial accompanist, but a sensitive partner in the conception of the entire programme.
In search of clues I
Clara und Robert Schumann their story, their songs
CD order
If there had been a yellow press in the nineteenth century the love story of the young and exceptionally talented pianist Clara Wieck, who was famous throughout Europe, and the composer Robert Schumann, would have made the headlines in all the papers. They even had to obtain permission to marry by a court order against the will of the bride’s father. After the “happy end” the young couple lived out the fulfillment of their love in the everyday humdrum of marriage. For both partners this was not without tension and painful disappointments.
Not only Robert, but also Clara composed music. Their personal experiences found artistic expression in their songs.
The soprano Angela Kentsch and the Japanese pianist Mari Kitagawa present here a very special Schumann programme.
Angela Kentsch narrates the exciting story of this famous couple and in doing so provides a platform for not only Robert’s, but also Clara’s songs. By the change from speech to singing a unique unity of performance is created.
Text and music enter into a dialogue and can thus enrich each other. What is only hinted at in words is made clear by the music. Conversely the songs gain in depth when they are placed in a context to the biographical background of their composer. Clara and Robert Schumann come closer to us as human beings than when they are seen through a mist of romantic idealization.
Angela Kentsch’s clear singing is absolutely right, and together with the discriminating accompaniment of Mari Kitagawa a completely new type of introduction to the life of the creative artists is created with the Schumann Lieder.
No lesser person than Robert Schumann called Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy the “Mozart of the 19th century”. However, in the Mendelssohn family there were two child prodigies who were both equally encouraged by their parents and their upper class background.
Fanny was three years older than her brother Felix, she was even possibly the more gifted pianist, and also a creative composer. However, the opportunities of an international career were denied to her throughout life for gender reasons, and yet she still worked creatively within the limits allowed to her as a woman and left a respectable number of compositions for piano and chamber music, three oratorios and approximately 300 songs.
The special quality of this Lieder programme is its conception. Angela Kentsch wrote texts on the biography of both composers which match perfectly to their situations. The effect of the song is intensified by knowledge of the biographical background. The alternation between text and music creates an intense tension which opens this art form to those who have not previously been interested in Lieder.
A sensitive look at the Mendelssohn brother and sister
Angela Kentsch (soprano, text and recitation) and Mari Kitagawa (piano) have followed the different lives of this brother and sister and have developed a completely new programme. Angela Kentsch has put the songs of Felix and Fanny in a biographical context with texts designed especially for this programme. This enables a very sensitive and discriminating look at this interesting couple.
The famous composer and opera director Gustav Mahler was described by his biographer Kurt Blaukopf as a “contemporary of the future”. In the meantime this future has long become the present.
Gustav Mahler’s 19 years younger wife Alma is legendary as the “muse” of several great creative artists. Before her marriage to Gustav Mahler Alma wanted to become a composer, but Gustav insisted that she give up her music. For Alma this was a trauma that put a great strain on her marriage. After 10 years the catastrophe occurred which was possibly responsible for Gustav’s early death at 51 years.
The songs of Alma and also of Gustav show in their difference the tension in their relationship. This story of ”loving each other” and “suffering because of each other” is particularly suitable for a very exciting “dramatic song evening” from Angela Kentsch (sopran) and Mari Kitagawa0 (piano).
Fascinating insights into the life and compositions of Alma and Gustav Mahler
He was an egoist; she was a “femme fatale”: Alma and Gustav Mahler were an unequal couple. Passionate love, deep despair, adultery, death wishes: Angela Kentsch (soprano and narrator) and Mari Kitagawa (pianist) enthralled about 40 listeners in the library with biographical details thrillingly linked to Mahler compositions, under the title “Loving and hurting”.
Mari Kitagawa and Angela Kentsch have been performing together since 2000. They have realized the idea of a dramatic Lieder evening for Clara and Robert Schumann, the brother and sister Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Gustav and Alma Mahler. » (Press notices)
It is no coincidence when a composer feels attracted to a particular poem and the way he composes his song is also not a matter of chance.…
This is bound up inextricably with his personality and the way he sees life.
If two composers have an intense relationship this, with its heights and depths, also becomes a source for both of them out of which they can draw on for their compositions.
What is more exciting than human relationships set to music? This is a topic which is timeless and always of interest – it is the connecting theme in this dramatic Lieder programme
Japanese
