The lieder by Fanny Hensel are among the most outstanding compositions of their time. In the last concert of our Fanny Hensel series they will be performed in a dialogue with works by artists who were close to Fanny Hensel.  What is particularly charming: they will be accompanied by a Romantic guitar, a typical instrument for accompaniments in that time, which was mainly played by women.

Maria Ladurner, a soprano who is much in demand internationally, is a high-profile specialist for Early Music and historically informed performance practices. Awards for her CD recordings include the Opus Klassik (2021) and the Diapson d’or. She made guest appearances at the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, at the Konzerthaus Wien, at the Berliner Philharmonie, at the Mozartwoche Salzburg and at the Händelfestspiele Göttingen. Her duo partner, Elias Conrad, was honoured with many awards in national and international competitions and has appeared in concerts with renowned conductors such as  René Jacobs, Andrea Marcon and Raphaël Pichon.

From the application video

In their new programme, the Accademia degli Stravaganti with six singers and theorba and harpsichord will present a premiere, the first complete performance of the Libro primo de madrigali by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (1579-1651): highly emotional five-part madrigals with basso continuo. Kapsperger’s  madrigali with their extreme interpretation of texts, their daring chromaticism and their exotic key shifts are strongly reminiscent of  Gesualdo – and yet their style is unambiguously rooted in Renaissance.

The Accademia degli Stravaganti, founded by Anne Marie Dragosits, want to delve deeply into the background of the music performed, with academic and musical research, and as like-minded musicians they want to live musical passion at a very high level.

Ballads by two great Lied composers of the Romantic era will be the focus of this recital given by two renowned artists, Müller Brachmann and Schultsz. Both are professors in their genres, one of them teaching singing in Karlsruhe, the other Lied accompaniment in Basle. Als a Lied duo, they have been invited to various festivals and have published a CD with Schubert’s Schwanengesang cycle which was also recorded with fortepiano accompaniment, as it will be heard in this concert.

Fanny Hensel’s Lieder are the focus of the international competition for Lied duos with fortepiano in Schloss Weißenbrunn organised for the first time  in 2026.

After the deadline for submission of video applications on 31 December 2025, the panel of prestigious jury members will select an overall number of eight Lied duos who0 will be given the opportunity of presenting themselves in two live concerts in Weißenbrunn.

It is not only the jury members who will be selecting the winner after the two concerts, concert audiences will also be given the chance of awarding a prize. Internet audiences will be able to award a special prize, since there will be a livestream of both concerts.

A few days before the concerts we will publish the link for livestreaming here.