The Four Seasons Chamber Music Series: To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Dublin Song Series

Magdalena Lucjan, soprano
Dearbhla Collins, piano

Franz Schubert

Im Frühling D. 882 (Schulze), 4’
Ganymed (Goethe), 5’
Abendstern (Mayrhofer), 2’
Winterabend (v. Leitner), 7’

Jean Sibelius

Den fyrsta kyssen (Runeberg), 2’
Norden (Runeberg ), 3’
Var det en dröm (Vecksell), 2’

Alban Berg

Sieben frühe Lieder 15’

Nacht (Hauptmann)
Schilflied (Lenau)
Die Nachtigall (Storm)
Traumgekrönt (Rilke)
Im Zimmer (Schlaf)
Liebesode (Hartleben)
Sommertage (Hohenberg)

Part II:

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Unvergänglichkeit (Straten), Op.27 12’

Unvergänglichkeit
Das eilende Bächlein
Das schlafende Kind
Stärker als der Tod
Unvergänglichkeit

Witold Lutoslawski

Chantefleurs et chantefables (Desnos), 19’

La Belle-de-nuit
La Sauterelle
La Véronique
L'Eglantine, l'aubépine et la glycine
La Tortue
La Rose
L'Alligator
L'Angélique
Le Papillon

Four Seasons Chamber Music Series: inviting audiences on a journey through the seasons, with music exploring themes of light and shadow, water and ice, and the passing of time.

In this week’s concert Polish soprano, Magdalena Lucjan, reminds us of the stillness of night, the power of dreams, and the depth of darkness. An exploration of life and death, the programme begins with Schubert Lieder depicting vast landscapes, and great dark skies, followed by three Sibelius songs about stars, stillness, and the cold, frozen North. The first half concludes with Alben Berg’s ‘Sieben frühe Lieder’ (Seven Early Songs), a song cycle which moves from eerie darkness in the Schoenberg-esque whole-tone harmonies of ‘Nacht’ (Night), to a passionate climax in ‘Sommertage’ (Summer Days). The second half begins with Korngold’s ‘Unvergänglichkeit’ (The Eternal), a work depicting renewal and rebirth. This was supposedly written in 1933, just before the composer fled from Europe and settled in the US. His naturally filmic compositional style is evident here in music that predates his many successful Hollywood scores. This performance finishes with Lutosławski’s Surrealist setting of Robert Desnos’ ‘Chantefleurs et chantefables’. Desnos wrote these poems for the children of his friends, and Lutosławski reflects this in his whimsical, humour-filled settings of Desnos’ fantastical dreamland.

Magdalena Lucjan

Polish soprano Magdalena Lucjan is currently a member of the ensemble at the Semperoper Dresden. A highly accomplished vocalist, Magdalena is the first prize winnder of the Neue Stimmen Competition in Gütersloh (2024) and Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition in Katowice (2023). From 2022 to 2024 Magdalena was a member of the Opera Academy at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, where she worked regularly with Olga Pasiecznik, Izabela Klosinska and Edith Wiens. In 2025, she made her debut at the Cologne Philharmonie and Aalto-Musiktheater Essen with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne under Manfred Honeck in the New Year’s concert Strauss & Puccini. In the 2025/26 season she will make role debuts as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Frasquita (Carmen), Sacerdotessa (Aida) and a Flowermaiden in Parsifal, among other roles.

Magdalena is accompanied today by Dearbhla Collins, one of Ireland’s finest pianists. She is most well known as a song pianist and performs recitals with singers such as Benjamin Appl, Patricia Bardon and Tara Erraught. She also regularly works with Dame Ann Murray and Brigitte Fassbaender. As well as being vocal coach at the RIAM, she has recently been appointed Assistant Head of Music at the National Opera Studio, London. Dearbhla has curated the three song recitals as part of this chamber music series.

Presented by NCH