Ardente Opera presents a fantastic programme of rarely performed works by one of Englands finest composers, Frederick Delius, in honour of the 150th anniversary of his birth.
Audiences are offered a unique opportunity to enjoy Delius's three part Piano Concerto (1907 version), followed by a concert performance of his last Opera, Fennimore and Gerda, in Philip Heseltine’s English translation.
Delius’s Piano Concerto premièred in its original form in 1904 before its revision and subsequent performance in 1907, and combines a Romantic grandeur reminiscent of the great piano concerti of Grieg and Rachmaninov with the sublime intimacy that is an integral part of Delius’s music. Following his recent debut recital at the Wigmore Hall, Alexander Soares performs the virtuosic but lyrical solo piano part.
Based on two episodes taken from The life of Niels Lyhne by Jens Jacobsen, Fennimore and Gerda charts the tragic loves and losses of three friends, Niels, Erik and Fennimore, concluding optimistically after the tragedy of Erik’s death, as Niels leaves the cares of his former life behind with his new lover, Gerda. Told in 11 musical pictures, the work is often described as an 'orchestral opera' due to the ravishing nature of its orchestral writing.
Ardente Opera would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Delius Trust for their generous support of this project.