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This song cycle for bass voice and piano, regarded by the composer as his final symphony, sets the sinewy poetry of Michelangelo, pre-eminent artist of the Italian renaissance, who found himself at odds with popes and patrons on earth and with God in heaven, and who wrestled with sexuality and spirituality in a very modern voice. In the voice of the sculptor/ poet we hear clearly the voice of the composer - offering here his most complete portrait of the artist.

Edward Hawkins (bass) and Sergey Rybin (piano) are directed by James Conway, following their acclaimed staging of the Romances on British Poetry as part of ETO’s Lyric Solitudes season.