Counterpoint Song Festival I:
A Poet’s Love
26 September 2024 | 18:15
Counterpoint 1: A Poet’s Love is not just another concert. It’s an immersion. A collision of emotions, expressions, narratives and time, where Schumann’s Dichterliebe is juxtaposed with a labyrinth of songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.
Schumann’s iconic song cycle and heart-stirring Russian Romances find new life through the profound interpretation of international baritone star Thomas Humphreys with the incomparable Pavel Timofeyevsky, Golden Age Productions artistic director, at the piano.
Tom and Pavel wil be our guides for this journey with sublime musical interpretation and fascinating commentary.
Part of our "Counterpoint" Song Festival—four musical stories that bring together song traditions from different countries and eras, with some fun, unexpected twists. From German Lieder to 1930s jazz, Russian romances to modern music, each night will offer something fresh.
A Private House in Chelsea
26 September 2024
18:15 UK Time
Thomas Humphreys
Thomas Humphreys is fast establishing himself as one of the most in demand baritones of his generation.
In opera, his roles include Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Il Conte Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), Escamillo (Carmen), Marcello (La boheme), Tomsky (Pique Dame), Jake Wallace (La fanciulla del West) among others for many of the major opera companies across the UK. He was recently critically acclaimed for his role as Il Conte Almaviva in Dorset Festival Opera’s production of Le nozze di Figaro, with Opera Magazine stating ‘Thomas Hiumphreys’ finely-sung alpha-male Count mixed Marlon Brando-like virility with baffled authority’.
Thomas recently made his debut at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Salle de la Cite de la Musique also in Paris and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, performing concerts of Schubert Lieder with the worldwide renowned pianist Maria Joao Pires, for which he was universally acclaimed. Other recital work has taken him across the UK and to Italy, Russia and Bulgaria.
Thomas is equally in high demand on the concert platform, regularly performing with the premiere choirs and orchestras in the UK, notably the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, English Symphony Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and the City of London Choir. He recently made his Royal Festival Hall debut singing Requiem (Verdi) with the London Mozart Players. His repertoire includes Messiah (Handel), Elijah (Mendelssohn), St. John Passion (Bach), Christmas Oratorio (Bach), Ein deutches Requiem (Brahms), Requiem (Mozart), Requiem (Faure), The Creation (Haydn), Nelson Mass (Haydn), Five Mystical Songs (Vaughan Williams).
Future plans include Requiem (Verdi) at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford and Mass in B Minor (Bach) with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra.
Pavel Timofeyevsky
Virtuoso pianist, composer for film and the concert stage, arranger and lecturer, Pavel Timofeyevsky has received numerous prizes and accolades, including the BBC/Guardian Young Composer of the Year award. Pavel has appeared at nearly all the major concert venues across the UK. Concert tours, along with television and radio appearances in other parts of the world include the USA, China, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Latvia, Greece, Cyprus and India.