Kyle Erdos-Knapp presents Liederabend Sept. 16

Acclaimed tenor performs Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin

Kyle Erdos-Knapp as Count René in Ohio Light Opera’s 2010 production of Franz Lehar’s The Count of Luxembourg. The acclaimed young tenor will present WUSTL’s annual Liederabend Sept. 16.

Acclaimed tenor Kyle Erdos-Knapp, whose recent performance as Tobias in Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ production of Sweeney Todd “nearly stole the evening” (KMOX), will return to St. Louis to present Franz Schubert’s beloved song cycle Die schöne Müllerin.

The performance, which begins at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, is the annual Liederabend, sponsored by the departments of Music and Germanic Languages and Literatures, both in Arts & Sciences.

Erdos-Knapp

Literally translated as “evening of song,” Liederabend is a German term referring to a recital given by a singer and pianist, particularly of works by 19th-century Austrian or German composers.

“Schubert composed Die schöne Müllerin in 1823 as a response to Wilhelm Müller’s narrative cycle of 23 poems about a lovesick wanderer, smitten with a miller’s beautiful daughter,” says Dolores Pesce, the chair and Avis Blewett Professor of Music. “Schubert masterfully weaves voice and piano together to heighten the emotions and drama of Müller’s poems about life and death.”

In addition to Sweeney Todd’s Tobias — a role he will reprise for Pensacola Opera this fall — Erdos-Knapp has appeared in Opera Theatre stagings of Gaetano Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment and Susan Kander’s Joshua’s Boots.

A two-time prize winner at the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, Erdos-Knapp is a frequent performer of recital and oratorio, and he has been heard as soloist in Mozart, Bach, Kodály, Monteverdi, Britten and Mendelssohn.

He also is active with early music, having performed extensively with Grammy-winning lutenist Paul O’Dette, including the title role of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Thésée and the role of Testo in Claudio Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda.

Erdos-Knapp will be accompanied by pianist Gail Hintz, teacher of applied music. Introducing the program will be Paul Michael Lützeler, the Rosa May Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities and professor of Germanic Languages and Literature.

The performance is free and open to the public and takes place in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle. A reception will immediately follow.

For more information, call (314) 935-5566 or e-mail daniels@wustl.edu.