Ashley Riches and Joseph Middleton

Programme

A Shakespearean Winter:
R Quilter Blow, blow thou winter wind; Come away death
J Ireland When daffodils begin to peer
D Argento Winter
G Finzi Come away, death
Bridge Blow, blow thou winter wind

In the bleak mid-winter:
R Strauss Weihnachtsgefühl; Mein Herz ist stumm, mein Herz ist kalt, Op. 19/6; Winternacht, Op. 15/2

To the North:
M Mussorsky Trepak
G Nystroem Själ och landskap – Vitt land, Onskan, Bara hos den

Winterreise:
F Schubert Die Götter Griechenlands, D677; Gefrorne Tränen, Die Nebensonne, Der Leiermann

Joseph Middleton – described as ‘one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder’ by BBC Music Magazine – has devised a sequence of song recitals exploring responses to the four seasons, with four singers taking a season each and their last song or encore leading us into the next season. For ‘Winter’, he is joined by bass-baritone Ashley Riches.

Ashley Riches read English at the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of King’s College Choir under Stephen Cleobury. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

An accomplished recitalist, and former BBC New Generation Artist, 2016-2018, he has collaborated with pianists including Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Julius Drake, Anna Tilbrook, James Baillieu, Simon Lepper, Gary Matthewman, Sholto Kynoch, and Joseph Middleton, with whom he wraps up this seasonal recital sequence.