Songs of Wild Things’ with Iryna Ilnytskya

Iryna Ilnytska, mezzo-soprano, and John Draisey, piano, explore the timeless bond between nature and human emotion through music of great beauty and vitality. Handel’s serene Ombra mai fu evokes the shelter and majesty of nature, while Arne’s Under the Greenwood Tree celebrates the freedom and harmony of life beneath the trees. Bizet’s passionate L’amour est un oiseau rebelle captures love as an untamed bird — wild, instinctive and impossible to possess — echoed by Saint-Saëns’ sensuous Mon cœur, where seduction emerges as a deeply animal force. Finally, Rossini’s triumphant Non più mesta reflects themes of transformation, renewal and rebirth, like nature itself endlessly rising from ashes into new life. All these pieces will be included in the concert programme and many more…