Transfiguration

Franz-josef Selig & Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha

The starting point for this evening is Richard Wagner and his fascination with the unattainable, ideal beloved, or with the ‘Liebestod’ as found in Tristan und Isolde. The Wesendonck Lieder originated in the same period as this opera and are inextricably linked to Wagner’s love for Mathilde Wesendonck – as the wife of his patron, an impossible mistress, but as a muse, a source of divine inspiration. Wagner’s love of the unfulfilled continues thematically during this lied evening with Franz Liszt’s Liebestraum and the three Michelangelo Lieder by Hugo Wolf, who greatly admired Wagner.  

In recent years, Franz-Josef Selig has proved in both Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal that he is among the very greatest Wagner basses of the moment. He will share the stage with South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, winner of the Song Prize at the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition and the recent winner of the Herbert von Karajan Prize. And for Inge Spinette, who will be taking her leave of our house after all these years, her career has now come full circle. ‘Alles endet, was entstehet …’