Love's Questions Unanswered

 

Soirées Musicales Quintette

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Annie Lower – soprano

Rachael Griffin – soprano

Mattias Lower – tenor

Leon Warnock – baritone

Peter Roennfeldt – piano

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Sunday 16 March 2025 at 4pm

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Four Ariettas and a Duet Op.82 (1811)                                                          Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

              Hoffnung (Hope)

              Liebes-Klage (Love’s complaint)

              L’amante impaziente (The impatient lover) – two settings, Arietta buffa and Arietta seriosa

              Lebens-Genuss (The enjoyment of life)

 

Four Lieder Op.27 (1894)                                                                                              Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

              Ruhe, meine Seele (Rest, my soul)

              Cäcilie (Cecilia)

              Heimliche Aufforderung (Secret request)

              Morgen! (Tomorrow!)

 

Lieder eines fahrendes Geselle (Songs of a wayfarer) (1885)                                   Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

 

              Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit mach (When my dearest weds)

              Ging heut’ Morgen über’s Feld (Walking this morning in the field)

              Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer (I have a red-hot knife)

              Die zwei blauen Augen (These two blue eyes)

 

Four duets Op.34 (1840)                                                                                           Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

 

              Liebesgarten (Love’s garden)

              Liebhabers Ständchen (Lovers’ serenade)

              Unter’m Fenster (Below the window)

              Familien-Gemälde (Family portrait)

 

Mir ist so wunderbar (I feel so wonderful) - Quartet from the opera ‘Fidelio’ (1805-14)                  Beethoven

 

 

General admission – bookings through 4MBS-Ticketing

 

 

 

 

About the repertoire:

 

Our 2025 season opens with a program of Lieder grouped by their composers in sets of four. None of these collections comprise a narrative song cycle or Liederspiel (song-play), but there still exist many internal cross-references. Further, the program’s title ‘Love’s Unanswered Questions’ provides an insight into the textual basis of many of the songs and duets, from which additional connecting themes arise. The frustration and pain between lovers, as caused by indecision, ambiguous messages or deceit is an underlying motif which draws some inspired word setting from the composers. This is most evident in the ‘Songs of a wayfarer’, which were in part a personal literary and musical response by the 25-year old Mahler to an unhappy love affair.

 

In contrast, the two groups of songs which precede and follow the Mahler in our program appeared during a time of great joy for their composers. Both Schumann and Strauss were then 30 years of age and on the verge of marriage to their musical and life partners. In general, they are positive in tone, but fear of the unknown is always present. In the case of the Schumann set, two she-he dialogue duets form the centrepiece, wherein the pleas of the night-time caller result alternately in rejection and in a teasing ‘but don’t tell anyone’. The Strauss collection, which was presented to his fiancée as a wedding gift, includes some of his finest settings which traverse a broad emotional arc from bold expectation to introspective confidence.

 

Beethoven’s Op.82 is based on just four texts, all but one of which is by the renowned librettist Metastasio. The additional item is due to a rather intriguing dual interpretation of a single text, one as an ‘arietta buffa’ and the other as an ‘arietta seriosa’, which shows how one set of words can convey differing meanings according to their musical setting. This work appeared during a period when Beethoven had still not arrived at the final version of his only opera, Fidelio, from which the program’s finale is excerpted. He had already mastered the string quartet genre, so it is not surprising that he could skilfully convey four contrasting states of mind simultaneously, all unified by a single melody with which each voice enters. If ever an operatic love triangle poses some complicated but as yet unanswered questions, this would be it!

 

Venue information:

 

Soirées Musicales Quintette has, over its first decade of presenting vocal chamber music, explored the fine acoustics and ambience of various heritage venues in Brisbane and beyond. We are excited to be performing our next program in what is for us a new venue, St Paul’s Anglican Church East Brisbane. In addition to celebrating its centenary during 2024, in recent years this wonderful setting has hosted some fine chamber music recitals. This is one of the first times the venue has been used for solo and ensemble vocal music, for which the warm and clear acoustics will be ideal.

 

Another welcome bit of news is that we will, as we did for many years pre-Covid, once again be offering post-performance refreshments in an informal setting, in the church hall.

 

Due to the limited on-site parking, we advise concert patrons that parking is best found on the side streets off Vulture Street. Public transport is also available - travel time from the Cultural Centre is approximately 10 minutes to the bus stop adjacent to the church.