Taking her French-African descent and the jazz, gospel and soul music of her childhood as inspiration, soprano Axelle Fanyo’s ‘Heritage’ programme explores the influence of cabaret on classical music.
In music by Kurt Weill, early Schoenberg and Gershwin, she charts a path through backroom Berlin and the creative hotbed of early 20th century Paris, across the pond to 1920s America. Exploring the heritage of African-American sprituals on pioneering Black classical composers like Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, she brings the story up to date with William Bolcom’s Cabaret Songs.
“Axelle Fanyo doesn’t only play a character, she narrates its story,” says Forum Opéra, so you can be assured of a perfect hour’s entertainment in the hands of such a skilled story-teller.
ECHO artist nominated by Philharmonie de Paris, Auditorium de Lyon and Gulbenkian Foundation
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