Helen Vidovich (flute) Val Welbanks (cello) Olga Stezhko (piano) Lotte Betts-Dean (voice)
Maurice Ravel - La flute enchantée (Shéhérazade) Judith Weir - Nuits d'Afrique Maurice Ravel - Chansons madécasses Interval Ewan Campbell - Translations of the Night Camille Saint-Saëns - Une flûte invisible Mel Bonis - "Invocation" and "Pour Artemis" from Scenes de la foret Michael Finnissy - Wisdom
This globetrotting programme for voice, flute, cello and piano is inspired by a rich array of literary sources. Ravel’s evocative Chansons madécasses has become an iconic work in the canon of vocal chamber music, transporting the listener through a Madagascan panorama. Commissioned as a companion piece by Wigmore Hall for the same combination, Judith Weir's Nuits d’Afrique represents three female writers from Senegal, Ivory Coast and Congo-Brazzaville, with poems depicting local life. The magical pieces by Mel Bonis and Ravel draw on Greek mythology and the Arabian Nights. The concert will feature a premiere of songs by Ewan Campbell, setting texts by the Malagasy poet, Rabearivelo. Michael Finnissy's Wisdom draws on a multitude of texts ranging from Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime myths to Shakespeare and Mary Shelley and is the centrepiece on the critically acclaimed album, Alternative Readings, released on the Métier label in 2024.
