Strikingly individual musical responses to theandrogynous Mignon and tormented Ophelia,respective creations of Goethe and Shakespeare,occupy the heart of Carolyn Sampson’s programmeof German and French songs.
She and JosephMiddleton include Strauss’s breath-taking mad songsand close with Poulenc’s monologue on the themeof suicidal despair played out at the gaming tablesof Monte Carlo.