I'm writing this on Monday 28 in the morning (the Schubertíada came to an end just a few hours ago), knowing that an article must be published tomorrow at midnight on Liederabend and I haven't written a single line. I'll learn one day that it's impossible for me to concentrate on writing anything during the festival. So, with the spirit still full of music, I'll share with you some notes that I have been taking these days, without any particular order or intention of being comprehensive.

Between March 30 and April 3, 1850, Robert Schumann composed three lieder upon poems by three different poets, which were published two months later as Drei Gesänge, Op. 83. The last of these lieder is Der Einsiedler, which is also the last with poem by Joseph von Eichendorff. Ten years earlier, he had written, among others, the twelve that form the Liederkreis, Op. 39, which is probably the most genuinely romantic work of the repertoire.

Christina Rosetti was born in 1830 into a family in which poetry was omnipresent. His father, Gabriele, was a poet and a professor of Italian at King's College London, after he was forced to leave Italy for political reasons. His mother, Frances Polidori, was the daughter of another Italian writer who had been exiled (and also the sister of the Polidori who we place within the circle of Lord Byron). The best Italian and English poets were [...]

This week we're reviewing four recital programmes of the Schubertíada, and they include are many beautiful songs that I would have liked to share with you. But still, the choice was easy: I just had to pick one of the songs from Hugo Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch. It's a grand piece that's rarely programmed in its entirety, and it's great that we get to enjoy it.