MICHELSEN-KLEINMICHEL
CONCERTS
18 November 2023 Dämmerung
Burg Beeskow
(11 March 2023 Dämmerung
Schumann-Haus Leipzig)
(09 Juni 2022 Dämmerung
Grieg-Begegnungsstätte Leipzig)
TWILIGHT
“Twilight”, in German “Dämmerung“, is a compositional collage of music by Alban Berg, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schönberg along with the Dream Songs of Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen and recent Eichendorff settings by the Leipzig composer Steffen Schleiermacher. Anna Michelsen, mezzo-soprano, and pianist Anja Kleinmichel create a thematically flowing programme of psychogrammatic miniatures and epic forms, musical characterizations of emotional states between expectation, strangeness and twilight.
Arnold Schönberg aus »Buch der hängenden Gärten« op. 15 - Als wir hinter dem beblümten Tore (00:00)
Aulis Sallinen aus Neljä laulua unesta op.30 - Kehtolaulu kuolleelle ratsumiehelle (01:53)
Steffen Schleiermacher aus: Eichendorff -Lieder - Zwielicht (02:43)
Gustav Mahler aus »Rückert-Lieder« - Ich atmet' einen linden Duft (04:01)
PROGRAMM
(Dauer 60 min)
Steffen Schleiermacher from Eichendorff - Lieder (2020)
In der Fremde
Alban Berg from “Seven Early Songs” (1905-1908)
Nacht
Arnold Schönberg from “Six Little Piano Pieces”, op.19 (1911)
Nr. IV (brisk, but light)
from “The Book of the Hanging Gardens” op. 15 (1908-1909)
Als wir hinter dem beblümten Tore
Du lehnest wider eine Silberweide
Wir bevölkerten die abenddüstern Lauben
Steffen Schleiermacher from: Eichendorff -Lieder
Zwielicht
Arnold Schönberg from “Six Little Piano Pieces”
Nr. II (slow)
Steffen Schleiermacher from: Eichendorff -Lieder
Nachtblume
***
Alban Berg
Piano Sonata, op.1 (1910)
***
Richard Wagner from “Wesendonck-Liedern” WWV 91 (1857-1858)
Im Treibhaus
Aulis Sallinen from “Four Dream Songs”, op.30 (1973)
Unesta tehty mies (Man made from sleep)
Kehtolaulu kuolleelle ratsumiehelle (Cradle song for a dead horseman)
Ei mikään virta (There is no stream)
Arnold Schönberg from “Six Little Piano Pieces”
Nr. VI (very slow)
Gustav Mahler aus »Rückert-Lieder« (1899-1902)
Ich atmet' einen linden Duft
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
VITA
ANNA MICHELSEN
Anna Michelsen was born in Helsinki. She studied music pedagogy at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with violin and voice as her main courses. She then studied singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig with Regina Werner-Dietrich and Carola Guber.
A natural mezzo-soprano, Anna Michelsen has performed in many opera productions and oratorios. She can also be heard as a lieder singer and with various Leipzig ensembles. Since 2018, she has been a permanent ensemble member of the Leipzig Opera Choir.
She has been performing as a duo with Anja Kleinmichel for several years. Their repertoire focuses on composers whose work is closely associated with the city of Leipzig, from Johann Sebastian Bach through Clara and Robert Schumann and Edvard Grieg to contemporary pieces.
ANJA KLEINMICHEL
Anja Kleinmichel studied piano with Alan Marks and Gabriele Kupfernagel at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin as well as chamber music and song interpretation at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig. She has been an official piano accompanist for master classes and international music competitions.
On the concert stage, she mainly performs in different chamber music combinations, with a particular interest in new music. She has received significant artistic inspiration in master classes, e.g. with the Ensemble Modern, and a scholarship at the Forum Neues Musiktheater of the Staatsoper Stuttgart.
Additionally, Anja Kleinmichel has completed studies in improvisation and creates music for silent films in the duo Spur der Töne. Besides her work as a pianist and instructor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy”, she writes about music and is the music editor of the Leipzig city and culture magazine Kreuzer.