A Poet's Love

British mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and pianist Sholto Kynoch present a compelling new interpretation of Robert Schumann’s beloved song cycle Dichterliebe, inspired by poems by the early nineteenth-century German poet Heinrich Heine. Across sixteen songs, the cycle traces the emotional arc of love in all its complexity — wonder, tenderness, longing, disillusionment, sorrow and remembrance — with Schumann’s music illuminating every nuance of Heine’s poetry with extraordinary sensitivity.
The programme also explores Heine’s lasting influence on Austro-German composers of the Romantic era, with songs by Carl Loewe, Josephine Lang, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn. Alongside Schumann’s cycle, the recital features the first recording of Knight’s Dream, a new work commissioned by Helen Charlston from composer and singer Héloïse Werner. Conceived as a companion piece to Dichterliebe and also based on a text by Heine, it creates an imaginative dialogue between past and present — playful, lyrical and deeply reflective.
This release is available as a high-resolution download in 24-bit / 192 kHz audio, preserving every detail and colour of these performances with exceptional clarity and dynamic range.