Ian Bostridge & Steven Osborne

British singer Ian Bostridge has long been celebrated as one of the world’s most perceptive interpreters of Franz Schubert’s compositions. Bostridge brings alive the composer’s achingly beautiful melodies. Edinburgh-born pianist Steven Osborne joins Bostridge on stage for one of the composer’s most visionary vocal works.

Schubert never conceived his visionary 'Schwanengesang' as a song cycle. In fact, was put together shortly after his death by his publisher. Nonetheless, its 14 songs balance profound melancholy with a consoling sense of hope. Themes of lost love, regret and fear are explored as Bostridge and Osborne separate the song cycle’s settings of poetry by Ludwig Rellstab and Heinrich Heine. In between they perform a collection of Schubert’s earlier songs, from the operatic 'Sehnsucht' to the folk-like 'Der Wanderer an den Mond'.

Presented by Edinburgh International Festival