The nixie of the mill-pond: Clara Barbier Serrano and Joanna Kacperek
Synopsis
Soprano Clara Barbier Serrano, the inaugural (and now alumna) Bocelli-Jameel Scholar at the Royal College of Music in London, and pianist Joanna Kacperek perform a magical recital on the theme of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale 'The nixie of the mill-pond', on Friday, 21 April, at 19h30 in the Levine Building, Trinity College, Oxford.
Featuring works by Robert and Clara Schumann, Purcell, Debussy, Chaminade, von Bronsart, Spanish and Argentinian folk songs and new commission by Fojan Gharibnejad, , the recital is part of 'A Grimm weekend of song' during the Oxford Lieder spring song festival.
Two hundred years since the first English-language publication of the Brothers Grimm tales, duos from Oxford Lieder’s young artist programme base their musical programmes around a selected tale.
Clara and Joanna write of their programme:
Two women weave the story of this tale together: they are responsible for the kidnapping of a young hunter, the despair of his wife and their destiny. Why do witches, nixies, lorelei do what they do? We take a musical journey unwrapping the story from the points of view of these two magical women, their experiences, choices and hopes. Through the symbols of the full moon, dreams, a comb, a flute and a spinning wheel, the tale not told emerges: a reflection on beauty, creation, music and friendship.