A collaboration with pianist Jan-Paul Grijpink.
This refined lied program brings together two extraordinary song cycles that stand at the heart of the German Romantic tradition: Robert Schumann’s Kernerlieder, Op. 35, and Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder. Though separated by half a century, both cycles reveal composers turning inward — setting poetry that meditates on solitude, longing, love, and the fragile search for peace.
Schumann’s Kernerlieder, composed during his remarkable “year of song” in 1840, draw on the introspective and often enigmatic poetry of Justinus Kerner. In these songs, Schumann crafts a deeply personal narrative, shifting seamlessly between restless agitation and moments of radiant stillness. The piano and voice are equal partners, together illuminating a psychological landscape that feels at once intimate and universal.
Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder offer a more distilled, transcendent perspective. Setting the refined and contemplative poetry of Friedrich Rückert, Mahler moves beyond the dramatic into a realm of profound inwardness. Songs such as Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen suspend time itself, inviting the listener into a state of quiet detachment and spiritual reflection.