As May begins, the warm weather tempts us to travel and discover remote lands. But there is no need to pack a bag just yet, you can explore unknown worlds by listening to the words of poets brought to life through music. This experience awaits at the NFM, where the voice of Agata Zubel will blend with the piano playing of Ignacy Lisiecki in a recital featuring a collection of fleeting yet emotionally charged works by Ned Rorem, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Viktor Ullmann, Charles Ives, Péter Eötvös, and Oliver Knussen.

This journey to the intersection of music and poetry brings together works from two cultural spheres: the Anglo-Saxon and the Central European. Ned Rorem, arguably the preeminent American songwriter of the last century, was a composer who delighted in the sensuality of sound. Zubel and Lisiecki have curated a selection of his songs, composed over nearly two decades and set to texts by six different authors, including Walt Whitman, a pivotal figure in modern American literature. Whitman’s poetry also inspired the late English composer Oliver Knussen, who meticulously set four of his poems, all centered on imagery of the sky and open space, to music. Within this linguistic and cultural context, it is only fitting to include works by Charles Ives, an American pioneer of modernism who, incidentally, made his living selling insurance. His compelling music rarely leaves anyone indifferent. Viktor Ullmann, an outstanding Czech composer of Jewish descent, who perished in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, turned to the Renaissance sonnets of Louise Labé. In his setting, the poet’s verses are clothed in a sophisticated, richly hued musical tapestry. Also featured are three earlier songs by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, composed in 1924; they are in their sound remarkably radical for this artist, serving as a reflection of the musical landscape of the First World War era.

The most recent work in the programme is the poignant final monologue from The Golden Dragon,  a 2014 opera by Péter Eötvös that has garnered international acclaim. The piece explores the plight of contemporary migrants, casting the theme of the journey in a dramatic and highly relevant light.