Lord Byrons imaginäre Reisen

In the organizer's words:

Byron is the embodiment of Romanticism: mysterious, misunderstood, morally dubious on the one hand, free, heroic and brilliant on the other. During the recital, performed by pianist Nare Karoyan, soprano Judith Hoffmann and actor Andreas Durban, diary entries and letters alternate with settings of Lord Byron's works. His poetry inspired many great composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelsohn and Hugo Wolf. The variety of compositions lend his poetry an ever-changing atmospheric background and invite the listener on a musical journey from classical to modern times.

Nare Karoyan studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz. In 2016, she recorded the CD "Shadowlines" (Quartziade ) with music by Leoš Janácek, Federico Mompou, George Benjamin and Robert Schumann. This was followed by another CD recording with the 24 Etudes by the Armenian-born composer Koharik Gazarossian (piano classics - 2022).

Andreas Durban has been a lecturer in music theater and song interpretation at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz for many years. He founded the Literatur-Oper Köln in 2008. The libretti are written by him. He has also been performing as a concert presenter and reciter for a decade.

The soprano Judith Hoffmann has a busy opera and concert schedule, including oratorio works and contemporary music; she has also recorded for WDR3 - Studio Akustische Kunst. In 2021 she founded the Liedfestival Ruhr.