Of Love and War
Beatriz Blanco cello
Federico Bosco piano
Solenn’ Lavanant-Linke mezzo soprano
Of Love and War, partly inspired by Eduardo Galeano’s novel Days and Nights of Love and War, draws parallels between the isolation and pent-up passions of wartime and the experiences of the current pandemic. Much of this repertoire was composed around the time of the First World War, but also embraces broader themes of beginnings and endings, night and day, love and loss.
Nadia Boulanger is celebrated as a teacher of great composers, but was a composer in her own right; her Three Pieces occupy a similar soundworld to that of Debussy, whose Cello Sonata is at the heart of the programme, and Fauré, whose song Les berceaux we hear in an arrangement for cello and piano.