The Divine Muse Mary Bevan & Joseph Middleton

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828):
• 1 Vedi, quanto adoro ingrato, D. 510 04:29
• 2 Son fra l’onde, D.78 01:48
• 3 Die Götter Griechenlands, D.677 04:06
• Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903): Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903):
• 4 Goethe Lieder: No. 50. Ganymed 05:26
• Mörike Lieder:
• 5 Mörike Lieder: No. 27. Zum neuen Jahr 01:51
• 6 Mörike Lieder: No. 22. Seufzer 02:34
• 7 Mörike Lieder: No. 28. Gebet 02:38
• 8 Mörike Lieder: No. 46: Gesang Weylas 01:43
• Franz Schubert:
• 9 Ganymed, D.544 04:06
• Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809): Arianna a Naxos:
• 10 Arianna a Naxos: I. Largo e sostenuto 04:54
• 11 Arianna a Naxos: II. Aria (Dove sei) 04:16
• 12 Arianna a Naxos: III. Andante (Poco da me lontano) 03:19
• 13 Arianna a Naxos: IV. Aria (Ah, che morir vorrei) 03:58
• 14 Geistliches Lied 03:33
• Franz Schubert:
• 15 Gott im Frühlinge, D.448 01:57
• 16 Marie, D.658 01:30
• Hugo Wolf: Alte Weisen:
• 17 Alte Weisen: No. 6: Wie glänzt der helle Mond 03:42
• Mörike Lieder:
• 18 Mörike Lieder: No. 23. Auf ein altes Bild 02:26
• Spanisches Liederbuch:
• 19 Spanisches Liederbuch: No. 4. Die ihr schwebet 02:43
• Mörike Lieder:
• 20 Mörike Lieder: No. 25 Schlafendes Jesuskind 03:36
• Total Runtime 01:04:35

Info for The Divine Muse

After the success of their debut disc, ‘Voyages’, Mary Bevan and Joseph Middleton present their second recital disc exploring Lieder in German and Italian by Schubert, Haydn and Wolf. The programme is woven around songs inspired by the ‘muses’ of the day, both mythological and divine.

It begins with Schubert’s dramatic and reverential settings of sacred German poetry, set alongside his lush emotional portrayals of female characters in the Italian settings.

The central section of the disc is then devoted to Haydn’s epic ‘scena’ depicting the famously cruel abandonment of Arianna by her lover Teseo, ‘Arianna a Naxos’. Haydn’s beautiful prayer ‘Geistliches Lied’ takes us back into the world of German poetry and the religious fervour that arose from the collective belief in Christianity which pervaded most art forms of the age. The disc then moves into works by Hugo Wolf, whose stunning settings of devotional texts take the listener right to the heart of the characters; a few of these songs were in fact inspired by paintings. The early moments of Jesus Christ’s life are vividly portrayed here, particularly in songs such as ‘Die ihr Schwebet’, ‘Auf ein Altes Bild’ and ‘Schlafendes Jesuskind’, while the haunting ‘Gesang Weylas’ invites the listener into the world of the mysterious goddes Weyla who wistfully dreams of the shores of her distant homeland.

From Ganymed to Christ, Dido to the Virgin Mary, Arianna to St Peter, this recital disc richly illustrates the lives and events surrounding the ‘divine muses’ who inspired these composers.

Mary Bevan, soprano
Joseph Middleton, piano

Mary Bevan
Praised by Opera for her “dramatic wit and vocal control”, British soprano Mary Bevan is internationally renowned in baroque, classical and contemporary repertoire, and appears regularly with leading conductors, orchestras and ensembles around the world. She is a winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist award and UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent in music and was awarded a MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list in 2019.

In the 2021/22 season, Bevan performs Haydn The Creation at the Barbican Hall with the Academy of Ancient Music, Belinda and First Witch Dido & Aeneas with the Early Opera Company at St John’s Smith Square, a European tour of Handel Messiah with Kammerorchester Basel, Handel Theresienmesse with the Handel and Haydn Society and Bach B Minor Mass with the Philhamonia Baroque Orchestra. Further highlights include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Lammermuir Festival and Osafestivalen alongside returns to Oxford Lieder, the Bolshoi Theatre and Carnegie Hall.

Last season, she returned to Royal Danish Opera for her role debut as Marzelline Fidelio and for the production LIGHT Bach Dances with director John Fuljames and conductor Lars Ulrik Mortensen. She also made her house debut at the Bolshoi Theatre in David Alden’s production of Ariodante as Dalinda. On the concert stage, she sang the world premiere of Sir James MacMillan's Christmas Oratorio at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and A.Bliss Rout with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Highlights of previous seasons include Rose Maurrant in Weill’s Street Scene for Opera de Monte Carlo and Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld for English National Opera. Bevan recently garnered praise for her Royal Danish Opera debut as Bellezza in Il Trionfo del tempo e del desinganno, for the title role in Turnage’s new opera Coraline for the Royal Opera at the Barbican, as well as for her return to the English National Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and her debut as Merab in Saul for the Adelaide Festival. For the Royal Opera House she created the role of Lila in David Bruce’s The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, sang Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro on the main stage, and the title role in Rossi’s Orpheus at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

On the concert platform, recent highlights include appearences with the BBC Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra at the Proms, and with Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO in the world premiere of Roxanna Panufnik’s Faithful Journey. She joined the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as Mary in Sally Beamish The Judas Passion; performed Bach Christmas Oratorio on tour in Australia with the Choir of London and Australian Chamber Orchestra; and Handel Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music. She also headlined a tour of Asia with The English Concert and Harry Bicket and made her Carnegie Hall debut with the ensemble as Dalinda in Handel Ariodante.

Bevan’s discography includes her art song album Voyages with pianist Joseph Middleton and Handel's Queens with London Early Opera, both released by Signum Records, Mendelssohn songs for Champs Hill Records, Handel: The Triumph of Time and Truth and Handel: Ode for St Cecilia’s Day with Ludus Baroque, and Vaughan Williams Symphony No.3 and Schubert Rosamunde with the BBC Philharmonic. In autumn 2019 Signum released her second disc with Joseph Middleton including Lieder by Schubert, Haydn and Wolf.

Joseph Middleton
The highly acclaimed pianist Joseph Middleton specialises in the repertoire of chamber music and song. He has enjoyed partnerships with Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Felicity Lott, Carolyn Sampson, Dame Sarah Connolly, Ian Bostridge, Christopher Maltman, Kate Royal, Wolfgang Holzmair, Iestyn Davies, Christiane Karg, Louise Alder, Mark Padmore and Katarina Karnéus in venues including New York’s Alice Tully Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Cologne Philharmonie, Zürich Tonhalle, Luxembourg Philharmonie and London’s Wigmore Hall. He is a regular guest at festivals in Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Ravinia, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver as well as the BBC Proms, and is heard frequently in his own series on BBC Radio3. Joseph Middleton is director of Leeds Lieder, musician in residence at Pembroke College Cambridge and a professor at his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music. He has a fast-growing and award-winning discography and was the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist of the Year Award in 2017.

This album contains no booklet.