Stéphane Degout &
Simon Lepper

How long can a star rise before it reaches its zenith? In the twentieth year of his career, Stéphane Degout was elected Artiste lyrique de l’année 2019, won an International Opera Award for Best Solo Recital Album, and yet almost everyone would agree that his best is yet to come. He will soon make his debut as Prince Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades. For his first Slavic role performance he immersed himself fully in Russian language and music. A passionate lied singer as well, Degout has read and listened eagerly, and especially for this recital programme, dived into the treasury of the Russian lied for the first time. Accompanied by pianist Simon Lepper, he combines the sung melancholy of Tchaikovsky and Schumann with mélodies by Gabriel Fauré.

Programme

Gabriel Fauré
La bonne chanson (Paul Verlaine), op. 61, 1892

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 
Sleepless nights (Aleksey Apukhtin), op. 60/6, 1880 
Amid the Din of the Ball (Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy), op. 38/3, 1878
A Tear Trembles (Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy), op. 6/4, 1869
My Genius, My Angel, My Friend (Afanasy Fet), 1859
Why ? (Lev Mey, inspired by Heinrich Heine), op. 6/5, 1869 

Robert Schumann
Dichterliebe (Heinrich Heine), op. 48, 1840