The Italian Songbook

Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch (‘Italian Songbookʼ) is a masterpiece. It is a particularly special occasion tonight to welcome the legendary pianist Imogen Cooper, as she has recently announced that this will be her final season before retiring from the concert platform. Together with two exceptional German singers, she performs these 46 songs, most of which are only a single page or two of printed music, and which Graham Johnson has described as ‘a new song landscape – a delightfully hybrid country where Italian folk earthiness is wedded to the highest German art.’

Emerging Artists
At the start of this evening's concert, and at most of our evening concerts in the first week of the Festival, one of our eight exceptional Young Artist duos will give a 15-minute showcase performance. These emerging professionals are the stars of the future, and can also be heard during the Mastercourse later in the Festival.