Skip to main content

Main navigation

Benjamin Appl a German baritone in a blue tuxedo.

Utzon Music 2023 Benjamin Appl Nocturne

23 July 2023

In the Utzon Room

Classical Music

Baritone Benjamin Appl unites an actor’s instinct for text, the charisma of a storyteller and a glorious voice in Nocturne. Joined by ANAM Head of Piano Timothy Young, this recital promises to be an enchanting afternoon of song.

A vocal presence so arresting it almost seems hypnotic...

Irish Times

Visions, dreams and fantasies in music of the night

Baritone Benjamin Appl is bringing the 19th-century Liederabend – “evening of songs” – into the 21st century and winning the hearts of audiences with his natural charm, bewitchingly intelligent singing and imaginative programming.

His Sydney debut will take you on an exquisite and ravishing journey into the nocturnal realms of the Romantic soul. Between twilight and morning, we’re vulnerable to celestial visions, nightmares and fantasies, insomnia and dark thoughts, serenades and romance, and Appl has assembled composers and poets who’ve brought the night world to life in song.

Schubert, Schumann and Richard Strauss represent the musical lifeblood of this last student of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and he’ll sing favourites such as Schubert’s thrilling Erlkönig. But Appl has also mined the repertoire for rare jewels by composers who inherited the German legacy, with songs by Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams and more.

Spend the evening with Benjamin Appl as he takes you on a musical and poetic journey.

Sydney Opera House Presents

Let's all agree to be very cool and collected when Benjamin Appl enters Utzon Room on July 23. Just kidding. We have every right to be carried away with Appl performing this program, Nocturne, with all the charisma and clarity he is known for worldwide.

Casey Green, Utzon Music Curator

Artist Information

Artists

Benjamin Appl 
Baritone

Timothy Young
Piano

Program

SCHUBERT 
Nachtstück

SCHUBERT 
Auf dem Wasser zu singen

TCHAIKOVSKY 
At the ball

R STRAUSS 
Ständchen

HAHN 
L’Heure exquise

SOMERVELL 
White in the moon the long road lies

SCHUBERT 
Der Wanderer an den Mond

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 
The Infinite Shining Heavens

R SCHUMANN 
Belsazar

SCHUMANN 
Zwielicht

SCHUBERT 
Erlkönig

BOLCOM 
Song of Black Max

QUILTER 
Now sleeps the Crimson Petal

GURNEY 
Sleep

GRIEG 
Ein Traum

BRAHMS 
Wie rafft ich mich auf in der Nacht

SCHOENBERG 
Warum bist du aufgewacht

SCHUMANN 
Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß

Ilse WEBER 
Wiegala

MACMILLAN 
The Children

R STRAUSS 
Morgen

Other information

Checking availability