12th March 7.45pm

Hanna Hipp – mezzo-soprano
Emma Abbate – piano
 
Women in Song
Songs written for, by and about women

Clara Schumann (1819-1896): Sechs Lieder, op. 13
• Ich stand in dunklen Träumen
• Sie liebten sich beide
• Liebeszaube
• Der Mond kommt still gegangen
• Ich hab’ in deinem Auge
• Die stille Lotusblume

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Frauenliebe und Leben, op.42

• Seit ich ihn gesehen
• Er, der Herrlichste von allen
• Ich kann’s nicht fassen
• Du Ring an meinem Finger
• Helft mir, ihr Schwestern
• Süsser Freund, du blickest
• An meinem Herzen
• Nun hast du mir der ersten Schmerz getan
 
INTERVAL
Pauline Viardot (1821-1910):
• Hai Luli
• Les filles de Cadix
• Madrid

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): Huit Chansons polonaises 
• Wianek 
• Odjazd 
• Polska młodzież 
• Ostatni mazur 
• Pożegnanie 
• Biała choragiewka 
• Wisła 
• Jezioro 

Amy Beach (1867-1944): Three Browning Songs, op. 44
• The year’s at the Spring
• Ah, Love, but a day!
• I send my heart up to thee!

Madeleine Dring (1923-1977): From Seven Shakespeare Songs
• Take, o take those lips away
• It was a lover and his lass

With key role debuts in recent seasons including Dorabella (Così fan tutte) for Seattle Opera, Der Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and wide acclaim for her first performances as Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) for Garsington Opera, Hanna Hipp’s ardent and impassioned singing make her a favourite for the leading lyric mezzo repertoire. In the 2022/2023 season, Hanna takes on the challenging lead role of Offred in Poul Ruders’ A Handmaid’s Tale, in a new staging by John Fulljames for the Royal Danish Theatre, followed by debuts at Opera North as Der Komponist and New Zealand Opera as Dorabella.
 
Increasingly in demand on the concert platform, Hanna adds both Mahler’s Symphony No.3 and Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater this season, marking debuts with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko and London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle respectively. de la Suisse Romande, under Klaus Mäkelä and Jonathan Nott respectively. Further concert highlights include Ein Page (Salome) for both Bergen and Edinburgh International festivals under Ed Gardner, Der Trommler in Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis with BBC Symphony Orchestra under Josep Pons, the title role in Mascagni’s Zanetto with the orchestra of Scottish Opera under David Parry, and Rossweise (Die Walküre) with London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski.
 
A former member of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, recent highlights on the mainstage include both Magdalene (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) under Sir Antonio Pappano, and her role debut as Hänsel in Antony McDonald’s new production of Hänsel und Gretel under Sebastian Weigle. Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, Hipp sang Cherubino and Dorabella at English National Opera, her first Varvara (Katya Kabanova) for Scottish Opera, and the title role in Offenbach’s Fantasio at Garsington Opera. Further international debuts include at Teatro Real Madrid as Frances, Countess of Essex (Gloriana) in David McVicar’s new production under Ivor Bolton, at Dutch National Opera as Ein Page in Ivo van Hove’s new production under Daniele Gatti, and both Isolier (Le Comte Ory) and Beatrice (Beatrice and Benedict) for Seattle Opera.

On disc, Hanna has appeared as Anna in Berlioz’s Les troyens with Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg under John Nelson on Warner Classics, Flora in Verdi’s La traviata at the Glyndebourne Festival under Sir Mark Elder on Opus Arte DVD, and released her debut recital album featuring the songs of Ildebrando Pizzetti with pianist Emma Abbate on Resonus Classics, garnering praise for her “gleaming sound and declamatory fire” (Gramophone).

 
The Neapolitan pianist Emma Abbate enjoys a demanding career as a piano accompanist and chamber musician. Described as “an amazingly talented pianist” by the leading Italian magazine Musica, she has performed in duo recitals for international festivals and concert societies in Austria, Portugal, Italy, Poland and USA, and at many prestigious UK venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Royal Opera House, St John’s Smith Square, St George’s, Bristol and at the Aldeburgh Festival. She also regularly broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and has recently presented an episode of Inside Music.
Emma’s varied discography includes a series of acclaimed recordings devoted to Italian vocal chamber music, the latest of which are with the mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp (Sera d’inverno: Songs by Ildebrando Pizzetti) and baritone Ashley Riches (Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Shakespeare Sonnets). A keen advocate of contemporary music, Emma has released two discs devoted to works by Stephen Dodgson that include his piano quintets with the Tippett Quartet. Other world-première recordings include works for cello and piano by Algernon Ashton and Krzysztof Meyer with Evva Mizerska. Emma also cultivates an active interest in historical keyboards, and has performed and recorded on a range of original instruments for the Finchcocks Charity and at Hatchlands Park and the Russell Collection. Together with Julian Perkins, she has recorded the complete keyboard duets by Mozart and Weber on original Viennese fortepianos. Julian and Emma’s latest duet release, entitled Tournament for Twenty Fingers, features piano duets by British composers from the twentieth century: the disc has received 5 star reviews on BBC Music Magazine and has been chosen by Scala Radio as Album of the Weekend.
Based in London, Emma is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and a staff coach at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Following her graduation from the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatoire in Naples and an Advanced Diploma from the S. Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome, Emma studied in London with Yonty Solomon. She has been elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of her ‘significant contribution’ thus far to the music profession.