Nikola Hillebrand / Andrè Schuen / Julius Drake

Our portrait artist Andrè Schuen opens his solo exhibition with a recital: Robert Schumann’s dreamy, nostalgic Liederkreis, Op. 24, is among the works on the programme – Schumann’s first engagement with Heinrich Heine’s poems, dating from 1840: »Ah, Clara, what bliss it is to write for the voice; which I had long been without«, wrote the composer to his bride in the year of their wedding, the year in which he also discovered the art of song for himself.

Andrè Schuen on lieder singing
The baritone will be performing alongside lieder accompanist Julius Drake. »It’s never about imposing a particular interpretation, but about discovering together what the music is telling us in that moment«, says Schuèn of their collaboration. Everyone contributes their own ideas, but the common goal is the work itself, which emerges through dialogue.

Soprano Nikola Hillebrand
Alongside the »Liederkreis«, the programme features songs and duets by Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann, featuring Nikola Hillebrand, who is highly regarded for her luminous soprano voice. The successful opera singer particularly values art song singing because here one does not slip into a role, but is entirely oneself – and engages in an exchange with one’s song partner and pianist.