Nietzsche: My Heart, My Serpent: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The psychological and spiritual journey of Nietzsche and his alter-ego Zarathustra are portrayed in this dramatic Liederabend. The compelling language of Nietzsche’s masterpiece, along with excerpts from his letters, portray a man in search of his true self as he struggles to free himself from the grip of madness.
Lieder for baritone and piano, along with the enchanting sounds of a children’s chorus and French horn, create a musical tapestry that includes Brahms’s Four Serious Songs, Wolf’s Prometheus, and Liszt’s dramatic recitation The Sad Monk.
Nietzsche: My Heart, My Serpent: Thus Spoke Zarathustra was part of our 2009-2010 and 2005-2006 Seasons.
2009-2010 Season
Artists in Exile
The Ensemble for the Romantic Century celebrated its ninth season by examining the lives of exiled artists from the perspective of spiritual, emotional, and intellectual displacements, a counterpart to exile as political isolation that formed the subject of our previous season. The condition of exile, understood as a removal from ordinary society, can also be seen as a symbolic need for the creative artist, who must often seek refuge in a closed-off inner world.
This sense of artistic isolation was the focus of the 2009-2010 season.