Songs of Travel - Music by Robert Schumann and Ralph Vaughan Williams

Join Chris Vale (baritone) & Eugene Joubert (piano) as we journey through two song cycles about finding and losing love.

Dichterliebe, Op. 48, composed by Robert Schumann, begins with the typical romantic expressions of love: the month of May; the singing of birds; looking into one’s lover’s eyes; roses, lilies, doves, the sun. This leads us through the experience of falling in love, a process lasting until the halfway point. At this point, the poetry reveals the realization that his beloved no longer feels as he does. The succeeding songs express all those feelings which can traditionally be associated with the lovelorn. The last song is about finally burying the feelings of love and moving on. This work is decidedly in the German Romantic tradition, with poetry by one of its chief exponents, Heinrich Heine.

Songs of Travel, by Ralph Vaughan Williams, takes a far more pragmatic approach to the subject. Overall, this cycle is more concerned with how life and love are intertwined, and one cannot be separated from the other. The poetry, by Robert Louis Stevenson, depicts various scenes of a traveler moving through the English countryside, vivid descriptions of nature, and expressions of love which are as evocative as they are disillusioned. 

These two song cycles both contrast and complement one another: while Dichterliebe’s main concern is love gained or lost, Songs of Travel focuses more on the life lived, the natural world experienced, and love’s joy and pain being an important part of the whole.

Chris Vale is a South African operatic baritone. Earning his BMus from The University of Pretoria cum laude in 2010, Vale has also won several prizes and scholarships, such as the Mimi Coertse Bursary Competition.

Chris’s first operatic performance was in 2007 as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte for East Cape Opera Company. His subsequent roles include Schaunard for Big Wig Opera’s 2015 production of La Boheme, and Leporello in Brooklyn Theatre’s 2019 production of Don Giovanni.

In 2011 he joined what was then called The Black Tie Ensemble, where he worked until 2013 in concerts like One Voice: An African Celebration, Kyk hier staan ‘n nuwe mens, and The Mozart Gala.

In 2014/15 Chris ventured into the world of musical theatre with performances in Shrek: The Musical Jr., and later in My Fair Lady, playing the leading role of Henry Higgins, presented by Full House Productions in conjunction with Brooklyn Theatre. Most recently, Christopher was musical director of Fiddler on the Roof, also at Brooklyn Theatre.

In 2021, Chris appeared in the concert Nagliedjies, singing works by Franco Prinsloo and featuring sopranos Magdalene Minnaar and Renette Bouwer, accompanied by Maryke Swanepoel.

Chris also released his first solo album, Come Away, in 2021. The album consists of works by Gerald Finzi and Franco Prinsloo, all of which are settings of Shakespeare poetry.

South African pianist Eugene Joubert has established himself as a collaborative musician of note. He made his US debut at the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in May 2007 during the Conservatory Project. Further international performances include a recital tour throughout Denmark in 2015 as part of the South African Opera Ensemble, as well as concerts in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia & Montenegro, Zambia and Mozambique. 

Locally, Eugene has appeared at the Wakkerstroom Music Festival annually since 2016 and performs regularly for the Lowveld Chamber Music Association in Nelspruit. He has performed chamber music recitals with Gerrit Koorsen (cello), Merryl Neille (flute), and Zanta Hofmeyr (violin), amongst others. His varied repertoire includes recently performed concerts for piano 8-hands, piano 6-hands, piano 4-hands, as well as the Mozart/Czerny Requiem for 2 pianists, soloists and chorus, amongst others. He appeared at the Vrystaat Arts Festival in 2021 as the pianist for the stage production Madame Pylinska en die geheime van Chopin, and look forward to performances at Aardklop and the Vrystaat Arts Festival in 2022.

Since 2012, Eugene has performed as répétiteur for numerous operatic productions. These include performances of Così fan tutte, L’elisir d’amore, La Traviata, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Bohéme, Faust, Werther, Amahl and the Night Visitors, as well as Candide. This production also toured to Switzerland for performances at L’avant-scène Opéra in Neuchatêl. well as lieder concerts with Chris Vale (baritone), Aukse Trinkunas (mezzo-soprano), Deirdré Blignaut-Rautenbach (soprano), Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), and Stéfan Louw (tenor).

A frequent collaborator with the Vox Chamber Choir, Eugene recently joined them on tour to Cape Town and have made a number of recordings together. He also joined baritone Chris Vale for their debut recording Come Away, musical settings of William Shakespeare by Franco Prinsloo and Gerald Finzi.

Eugene completed his bachelor’s (2004) and master’s degrees (2006), both in piano performance, at the University of Pretoria, and was awarded the medal of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria for exceptional academic achievement during his undergraduate studies. He holds licentiates in piano (performance) and piano (teaching), both from the University of South Africa, cum laude. In 2003, he studied with Konstantin Scherbakov in Zürich, Switzerland as part of an exchange programme with the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. 

In 2009, Eugene completed a master’s degree in collaborative piano at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, Texas. The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Foundation generously supported Eugene during his studies, and he was awarded a full tuition scholarship from Rice University. As holder of the Charlotte A. Rothwell chair for principal keyboard of both the Shepherd School of Music Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Eugene also performed contemporary music with Syzygy and 20/21. Eugene was awarded the Lillian H. Duncan prize for piano in 2008.

Having previously held the position of répétiteur at the Vocal Arts department of the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, Eugene was appointed as the Head of Piano Studies at St Mary’s School, Waverley in 2018.