Enter a world of wonder in this evening concert inspired by rustic folk tales and elflike fantasy.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales hit the bookshops in 1812, and by the time H.C. Andersen was ready to publish his own fairy tales in the 1830s, a new literary genre was born.  Robert Schumann followed suit with several instrumental works, as reflected in this late clarinet trio.  Dvořák found different reasons to delve into his country’s folklore. It inspired major operas, as well as the very charming yet rarely performed Moravian Duets.

Janáček drew on the Czech folk traditions with even greater zeal.  From the nuptials of the beetroot to the comic picture of a cow in the knacker’s yard, the musical miniatures of Říkadla (Nursery Rhymes) arguably are some of his most playful and catchy creations. Equally upbeat and almost clown-like is Elena Kats-Chernin’s Village Idiot, conjuring the wry image of a fool who in a world of madness dares to speak a clearer truth.

Program

Robert Schumann,  Märchenerzählungen op 132 (1853)

Antonín Dvořák,  Moravian Duets (1876)

-interval-

Leoš Janáček, Říkadla (Nursery Rhymes) (1924)

Elena Kats-Chernin, Village Idiot (2006)

Artists

James Wannan, viola

Oliver Shermacher, clarinet

Susannah Lawergren, soprano

Anna Fraser, soprano

Roland Peelman, piano

Ronan Apcar, piano/keyboard

Theo Carbo, electric guitar

Luminescence Chamber Singers

Alma Moodie Quartet