Song recital "Polyphony" - of polyphony, magic voices, differences of opinion and competition

In the first concert of its 2026 concert season, klangwerk LIED takes up the annual theme of the Augustinum Freiburg 2026, "polyphony". A word, as if made to be used to create a concert that sounds. But what can this polyphony mean in a musical context, and how have composers dealt with it? We encounter individual voices that can unite to form a whole, telling a story together or singularly in duets and tercets. But also many voices in the sense of diversity, exchange of opinions and plurality, dialog and dialogue. When it starts to "humanize" or when people consciously or unconsciously talk past each other. Proclaimed by many voices, or even many voices united in one person, as in Erlkönig, where one singer alone expresses four characters at the same time. Magic voices move mountains, animals speak in sounds unknown to us, and many a soulful vocalise speaks to us in so many ways without saying a single word. We can look forward to the many ways in which the selected pieces speak to us, change our perspectives and how much they are able to touch and enchant us.

Performers at the concert on Sunday, March 1 at 5 p.m. in the Augustinum theater hall (Weierweg 10, streetcar 4 "Innsbrucker Straße") are the young soprano Serena Hart and the English tenor Stephen Matthews, who both recently graduated from the Mannheim University of Music and are on the verge of international careers. Both are already internationally active and have already won awards at international competitions and scholarships. They will be joined by the Freiburg baritone Georg Gädker and Lied accompanist Carl-Martin Buttgereit, both of whom have a long track record of international concert appearances and can be heard regularly in recitals, as well as winning prizes and radio recordings.

With works by Schumann, Howells, Copland, Vaughan Williams, Reutter, Rachmaninoff, Schubert and others.

Copyright: Artist (private)