Clara Schumann (1819-96) set her Op. 13 Lieder to texts by the eminent German poets Heinrich Heine, Emmanuel Geibel and Friedrich Rückert. All poems are examples of true Romanticism: love and all its relating emotions of torment and elation, pain and bliss, with human relationships often experienced through natural phenomena. Schumann created beautiful vignettes of intimate, personal moments, depicting a range of feelings from anguish to exuberance. The piano- and vocal parts are intricately connected, sensitively interpreting the text with well-placed dissonances and lush harmonies. Listen out for the dominant-seventh chord at the end of the set, brilliantly showing the question with which the poem finishes.
Amy Beach (1867-1944) owes much to her predecessor Clara and all of the Romantic Art Song composers, adding her own American idiosyncrasies. Mostly self-taught, Beach was the first woman composer whose works were performed by US orchestras. Like Schumann, Beach toured as a concert pianist. She often wrote her own texts for her songs. The songs in this programme show Beach’s unique expressive power: each work possesses a different character and colour with at times virtuosic piano- and vocal parts. From sentimental to grand, reminiscent of French operetta to humourous, Beach takes us on an ever-changing adventure of song.
Saturday, February 29, 2020, 6pm Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini) Charlotte Derry, Soprano Carola Emrich-Fisher, Alto Ben Leonard, Tenor Phil Wilcox, Bass Northampton Philharmonic Choir Christopher Mabley, Conductor Tickets
Monday, April 27, 2020, 3pm #CelebrateMary
Follow this link to see A Birthday Tribute to Mary Wollstonecraft
A Video Excerpt of Bee Rowlatt’s An Amazon Stept Out
Sunday, September 29, 2019 11am Soloist at New Unity, Newington Green Selections by Hugo Wolf Hamish Brown, pianist
Friday, November 8, 2019 7:30pm Musical Cabaret Serenata Chamber Concert Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park N6 5HG Tickets £12 (£8 Concessions)
Friday, December 13, 2019, 7:45pm Alto Soloist Messiah (Handel) The Eisenach Consort Jack Gonzalez-Harding, Conductor St. James’ Church Sussex Gardens London Tickets
2018/19
Sunday, September 23, 2018 11am Soloist at New Unity, Newington Green Clara Schumann Op. 13
Saturday, October 13, 2018 7:30pm Opera Gala Benefit Concert New Unity, Newington Green, N16 9RA
Sunday, October 21, 2018 4pm Stoke Newington Music Festival Journey Through Song Colin Fisher, piano Beaucatcher, Stoke Newington FREE Admission ~ Donations Welcome for N. London Action for the Homeless
Saturday, November 10, 2018 7:30pm Serenata Chamber Concert Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park N6 5HG Tickets £12 (£8 Concessions)
Sunday, November 11, 2018 10:30am They Shall Not Grow Old: Music & Poetry Commemorating the Centenary of WWI Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, N16 0LH FREE
Wednesday, January 23 & Friday, January 25, 2019, 7:30pm Gounod’s Faust (Siebel) Brent Opera West Hampstead St Andrew’s Church, London NW3 7DY Tickets £15-£17
Sunday, February 10, 2019 11am Soloist at New Unity, Newington Green Ralph Vaughan Williams & John Musto
Sunday, May 5, 2019 11am Soloist at New Unity, Newington Green with Susan Harrison, viola
Saturday, June 8, 2019 7:30pm Alto Soloist St. John’s Choir Summer Concert St. John the Evangelist, Redhill, RH1 6QA, UK Tickets: £10, £5 children or £25 for a family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children)
Sunday, July 21, 2019 6:30pm Felici Opera presents: Mozart on a Summer Evening St. Paul’s Walden Bury Gardens Hitchin SG4 8BP Tickets: £20 (£15 under 18)
2017/18
Sunday, December 17, 2017 11am Soloist at New Unity, Newington Green Brahms: Op. 91 Two Songs for Alto and Viola Susan Harrison, viola Ezra Williams, piano
Friday, September 29, 2017 7:30pm Serenata Chamber Concert: “Nineteenth-Century Women Composers” Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park N6 5HG Tickets £12 (£8 Concessions) Pre-concert booking: 020 8340 2983
Friday, April 27, 2018 7:30pm Serenata Chamber Concert: “The Great Johannes Brahms” Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park N6 5HG Tickets £12 (£8 Concessions)
Thursday, June 28 & Saturday, June 30, 2018 7:30pm Bizet’s Carmen (Carmen) Brent Opera West Hampstead St Andrew’s Church, London NW3 7DY Tickets£15-£17
2016/17
June 18 & 19, 2016 St. John’s Church Waterloo Hippolyte et Aricie (Phèdre) Linden Baroque Peter Fender, Director
Friday, October 14, 2016 Serenata Chamber Concert “Kings, Queens and Musicians” St. Cyprian’s Clarence Gate Brian Benedict, Artistic Director
Carola Emrich-Fisher 