Song Cycle composed by Mykola Lysenko 1842-1912
To poems by Heinrich Heine 1797-1856

Pre-concert featuring Krisztina Szabó, Russell Braun, Albert Krywolt.
Concert by National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, 
guest orchestra of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, 
Roy Thomson Hall, North Lobby
febuary 13, 7:15 pm

In the early 1850s, Mykola Lysenko furthered his musical development in Leipzig, Germany, the foremost conservatoire on the European continent at the time. Within days of arriving, he attending a recital of Robert Schumann's 'Dichterliebe', a work he fell in love with.  Shortly afterwards, Mykola returned to Kyiv and immediately set about composing his own Dichterliebe song cycle: A Poet's Love. Lysenko turned to the same book of Heinrich Heine Romantic poems that Schumann himself had drawn on.  He then composed his own 'Poetova Lyubov' - A Poet's Love. 

Three of the texts were identical to Schumann's collection; but then he explored further depths of Romantic poetry, adding his own style, offering a further credence to the word and placing the pianist and singer on equal par on the concert platform. The song cycle became a veritable duet of voice, body and soul.