Program
Georges Bizet (1838–1875):
Séguedille from the opera Carmen
Hector Berlioz (1803–1869):
Les Nuits d’été: Le spectre de la rose, Op. 7 No. 2
Mel Bonis (1858–1937):
Songe
Augusta Holmès (1847–1903):
Coucher de soleil
Georges Bizet (1838–1875):
Habanera from the opera Carmen
Xavier Montsalvatge (1912–2002):
Five Black Songs (Cinco canciones negras)
No. 2 Punto de Habanera
No. 4 Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito
No. 5 Canto negro
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868):
Una voce poco fa from the opera The Barber of Seville
Intermission
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791):
Voi che sapete and Smanie implacabili from the opera The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759):
Crude furie from the opera Xerxes, HWV 40
Reynaldo Hahn (1874–1947):
À Chloris
Hector Berlioz (1803–1869):
from Tristia – La Mort d’Ophélie, Op. 18b
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911):
Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht from the song cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897):
Die Mainacht, Op. 43 from Four Songs
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957):
Sterbelied from Narrenlieder
Gerald Finzi (1901–1956):
from Let Us Garlands Bring: It was a lover and his lass, Op. 18 No. 5
Kurt Weill (1900–1950):
I’m a Stranger Here Myself from the musical One Touch of Venus
Artists
Anita Monserrat, mezzo-sopran
Iain Burnside, piano
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Anita Monserrat combines precise attention to text with a warm, flexible timbre. Shaped by church choral practice and academic training, she seeks direct communication in song: clear lines, breathing phrases, and a keen sense for semantic detail. Her programs span a wide arc—from Baroque affinities to modern sound worlds—placing the focus on narrative power rather than effect. The result is intimacy without patina, radiance without pathos. An evening of voices and colors: from Bizet’s Carmen to Berlioz’s poetic night songs and the rarely heard miniatures of Mel Bonis and Augusta Holmès. Montsalvatge’s Canciones negras bring Afro-Caribbean fire; Rossini and Mozart add sparkling operatic theater; Handel contributes Baroque fervor. Hahn, Mahler, Brahms, Korngold, Finzi, and Weill lead to songs of longing, irony, and modernity. Anita Monserrat presents it all with narrative clarity and a warm, expressive tone.