Allan Clayton tenor; Christine Rice mezzo-soprano; James Baillieu piano

Benjamin Britten held a strong affection for the art of Robert Schumann and brought a composer’s insights to performances of his works. Allan Clayton and Christine Rice kick off Wigmore Hall’s Britten anniversary commemorations by taking their respective turns in two of Britten’s song cycles from the 1940s. The evening’s second half comprises Schumann’s dark-hued settings of poems by Heinrich Heine and Britten’s four Cabaret Songs to verse by Auden, including ‘Tell me the truth about love’.