Echo of nature
Tuesday 19 May / 20.15 - 22.00
Julian Prégardien, tenor / Bryan Benner, baritone & guitar
Nature itself provides the backdrop for this surprising open-air recital. Surrounded by rustling leaves and twittering birds, Julian Prégardien and Bryan Benner play with boundaries and conventions. Because from the minstrelsy of the Middle Ages to the singer-songwriters of today: nature has always been a source of inspiration for composers and poets. Yet you hardly ever have the chance to enjoy both nature and the liederen and liedjes who sing its praises at the same time. Prégardien and Benner change that! Lie down in the grass, take off your shoes and feel the earth between your toes. And while you listen to a mix of classical repertoire and pop and folk music, you will experience that in the open air the differences between genres, between musicians and listeners and between art and its surroundings fade away.
The exact programme remains a surprise, but you are going to listen, among other things, to a selection of liederen from Dichterliebe by Schumann and, of course, many liederen by Franz Schubert, such as:
Auf dem Wasser zu singen
Der König in Thule
Wanderer's Nightlied I & II
Der Musensohn
Fischerweise
Der Erlkönig
Great Hall
Evangelical Brotherhood
Zusterplein 12, 3703 CB Zeist
Julian Prégardien / tenor
His clear voice and great sense of expressing text make Julian Prégardien a beloved opera singer and interpreter of the lied repertoire. His passion for the lied and desire to introduce it to a wider audience inspired him to found Liedstadt. Prégardien gives many concerts worldwide and has several CDs to his name in collaboration with leading pianists such as Kristian Bezuidenhout and Sir András Schiff. He is also, among other things, principal study teacher of voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and will be artist in residence at the Wiener Konzerthaus in the 2025/26 season. There he will perform, among other things, his own concert series: Schubert for All.
Bryan Benner / guitar
Singer, guitarist and singer-songwriter Bryan Benner grew up in the US, but currently lives in Vienna. His solo performances resonated with large audiences, whether in large concert halls, intimate living rooms or in unusual venues like sailboats and bustling music clubs. In 2013, he founded The Erlkings: an internationally loved ensemble that connects the classical liedrepertoire with the acoustic genre of contemporary singer-songwriters. Benner enjoys collaborating with chamber musicians in which his own compositions seamlessly connect with iconic chamber music works. With Czech guitar virtuoso Václav Fuksa, he performs programmes that pay tribute to the colourful, musical heritage of Naples.
Julian Prégardien creates a sense of drama with his sincere, refined voice, and his outstanding diction makes following the poetry a pleasure.
Bryan Benner likes to call himself ‘Schubadour’ with a wink, a label that illustrates his virtuoso and playful approach to the repertoire.