An alliance between Brahms and Schumann

Versatile is the perfect word to describe Thomas Oliemans. As an opera singer, he has already made it to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. As a Lieder singer, he is equally skilled at singing French chansons and Schubert songs, accompanying himself on the piano. Once again, he has something special in store for us. Together with the renowned accompanist Malcolm Martineau, he performs Brahm’s Die schöne Magelone, intertwined with the song cycle Liederkreis by Schumann.

In 1861, Johannes Brahms composed Die schöne Magelone, a song cycle based on poems by Ludwig Tieck. The melodrama, originally with spoken word, is the story of knight Peter who falls in love with the beautiful Magelone and has many adventures before the two are finally reunited. The fifteen songs have a similar atmosphere. By alternating with the twelve songs from Schumann’s Liederkreis, which provide a kind of commentary, Brahms’ song cycle takes on new meaning.