A word from Jane Anthony
Festival Director, Leeds Lieder

Clara's Gift

Leeds Lieder+ is a festival of art song devoted to reviving interest in this neglected genre and introducing new audiences to its wonders, so we were immediately interested when Ensemble suggested Clara's Gift, an evening built around Frauenliebe und Leben, one of the greatest song cycles.

We felt that a dramatic evening, telling the remarkable love story of Clara and Robert Schumann with interesting new insights into the composition of the songs and performances of the songs in translation, followed by a complete performance in the original German was exactly the kind of original idea we were looking for.

The evening was brought to life by performances of the highest calibre and, as we had hoped, proved highly successful in interesting new audiences; indeed we sold more tickets than for any other 'between festivals event'. However, we were less prepared for the rapturous appreciation of our core 'knowledgeable' audience who clearly enjoyed the way Clara's Gift shed new light on a well-loved piece, and the innovative and imaginative combination of theatrical and musical performance.

We were all delighted by the response and hope that Clara's Gift will reach many more audiences.

Audience responses to the premiere of
Clara's Gift

“The evening was magical! The singer conveyed the distress and sadness of this very talented family. She sang with great sensitivity and one felt totally involved in the story...The actress created a feeling of intimacy, as if she was painting a portrait of the family”

Wendy Morell

“I wasn't sure what to expect but Clara's Gift far exceeded my expectations. It was beautiful and I was transported into another world. I dined on it for days”

Lois Plows

“The playing of Simon Lane was the icing on the cake”

Olav Arnold