The King's Singers
Wonderland - album release concert
Program:
Milligan-Langford: Alice in Wonderland
Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals - I. Two Dreams and Little Bat
R. Strauss: Männerchöre, TrV 270 - II. Traumlicht
Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals - II. Cuckoo in the Pear-Tree
Janequin: Le Chant des Oiseaux
Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals - III. The Alphabet
Tallis: The Lamentations of Jeremiah
Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals - IV. Flying Robert
Schubert: Flucht, D. 825b
Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals - V. The Lobster Quadrille
Ravel: Trois Chansons - III. Ronde
Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals - VI. A Long, Sad Tale
Martland: Poor Roger
Pop-music covers, Disney songs
Wonderland: The King's Singers is a constant phenomenon, as the vocal sextet, founded fifty-five years ago, has retained its fresh, diverse, and maximalist approach despite multiple changes of its member during the decades. What they offer is always a miracle, but this time around they will be offering the Müpa Budapest audience a truly special treat, namely the world premiere of their new CD, Wonderland, to be released just before the Budapest concert, which also pays tribute to the work of György Ligeti, born 100 years ago.
"Our first meeting with the great Hungarian composer, György Ligeti, was at the Philharmonie in Berlin, the night before the first performance of Nonsense Madrigals which he had written for us. Having spent all day travelling from Warsaw, we arrived in Berlin extremely tired. […] We went straight from the hotel to rehearse with the great man (we were late!) and, nervous with anticipation, we entered the hall. There, on his way out (as he thought we were not coming) was Ligeti. Before we had a chance to speak, let alone apologise, he said "Oh, I love your album The Beatles Connection. Tell me, who is it who does the imitation of Louis Armstrong in ‘Honey Pie'?” This is how The King's Singers remember Ligeti, whose Nonsense Madrigals - setting children's poetry and texts by Lewis Carroll to music - was recently recorded by the ensemble in unique fashion, pairing each madrigal with a contrasting work as a commentary - pieces by Richard Strauss, Tallis, Janequin, Schubert, Ravel and Martland. In the second part of the show, they will perform some of the best popular music covers in their repertoire, this time with a special focus on the Walt Disney film songs.
The King's Singers:
countertenor - Patrick Dunachie, Edward Button
tenor - Julian Gregory
baritone - Christopher Bruerton, Nick Ashby
bass - Jonathan Howard
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
