12 November 8 pm City Hall
Radoslava Vorgić Žuržovan (soprano, Serbia) and
Nevena Sovtić (piano, Serbia) song recital
Program
The Lighter Side of Music – An Evening of Humorous Solo Songs
Radoslava Vorgić Žuržovan, soprano and Nevena Sovtić, piano
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
La Bonne Cuisine – Four recipes for voice and piano
I. Plum Pudding
II. Queues de Boeuf (Ox Tails)
III. Tavouk Guenksis
IV. Civet à Toute Vitesse (Rabbit at Top Speed)
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
I Hate Music – Five Kid Songs
I. My Name Is Barbara
II. Jupiter Has Seven Moons
III. I Hate Music!
IV. A Big Indian and a Little Indian
V. I’m a Person Too
Jake Heggie (1961-)
Natural Selection (1997)
No. 2: Animal passion
No. 3: Alas! Alack!
Jake Heggie (1961-)
Eve Song (2000)
No. 5: Snake
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Cabaret Songs
No. 1: Tell Me the Truth About Love
No. 4: Calypso
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Mörike Lieder
No. 16: Elfenlied (Elf-song)
No. 8: Begegnung (Encounter)
No. 48: Storchenbotschaft (Stork-tidings)
No. 5: Der Tambour (The Drummer-boy)
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Italienisches Liederbuch (Italian Songbook)
No. 11: Wie lange schon war immer mein Verlangen (How long have I yearned)
No. 46: Ich hab in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen (I have one lover living in Penna)
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Spanisches Liederbuch (Spanish Songbook)
Part II. No. 2: In dem Schatten meiner Locken (In the Shadow of my Tresses)
Konstantin Babić (1927-2009)
Šašava pesma (Silly Song)
Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951):
Brettllieder (Cabaret Songs)
I. Galathea (Ah, how I’m burning with desire)
II. Gigerlette
III. Der genügsame Liebhaber (The contented suitor)
VII. Arie aus dem Spiegel von Arcadien (Aria from The mirror of Arcadia)
Dorotea Vejnović (1986-)
Cic! (Branko Radičević)
Radoslava Vorgić and Nevena Sovtić
Radoslava Vorgić and Nevena Sovtić are both lecturers at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad (Serbia). They collaborate as duo from 2021. In October 2022 they held a masterclass for young students in Novi Sad. The duo had several performances in 2023, including the premiere of various songs by Serbian composers, as well as several recitals. They were Semifinalists of Lied competition Bolko von Hochberg in Görlitz. The following projects were realized by the duo: CD recording of all songs by the composer Saša Kovačević (commissioned by the Academy of Arts), CD recording of all songs by the composer Rudolf Brucci, masterclass with the composer Aleksandra Vrebalov on the theme “Serbian female poetes and art song”, recital “Who is Ophelia” (A Fest, Academy of Arts), recital “Shakespeare in song”.
The goal of the duo Vorgić/Sovtić is to promote the art song in Serbia with passion and skills and to create a platform for future song culture. At the end of 2023, they founded an association ArtSong Novi Sad that focuses on art song. It is the first association in Serbia with the main goal of promoting art song in Serbia.
The Serbian soprano Radoslava Vorgić initially studied music education and singing at the Academy of Arts Novi Sad and continued her studies (master’s and concert exam) at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with Claudia Eder. She is a prizewinner at the Rheinsberg Chamber Opera Singing Competition, the IBLA Grand Prize – Special Prize for Handel in Italy, the International Mastersinger Course in Neustadt an der Weinstraße and the TAMIS Baroque Competition in Saarbrücken.
Master classes with Elisabeth Scholl, Andreas Scholl, Emma Kirkby and Ton Koopman, among others, allowed her to focus on early music, which leads to Gregorian chant as a member of the ensemble “Kaliomene”. The greatest artistic impulses of her training in the context of art song came from Dame Felicity Lott, Sophie Daneman, Julius Drake, Helen Donath and Marjana Lipovšek.
She began her career as a member of the Junge Ensemble at the Staatstheater Mainz, since 2015 she has been a guest soloist at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden and an ensemble member at the New Belgrade Opera (Serbia). She is also a sought-after singer with such renowned organizers as the Rheingau Music Festival. Since January 2023 she has been a lecturer at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad.
Nevena Sovtić was born in Novi Sad, Serbia. She received her musical training at the Novi Sad Art Academy, where she completed her diploma and master’s degree. In 2015 she moved to Germany, where she first studied art song performance at the HfM in Detmold and then worked as a collaborative piano in singing classes at the same university. With mezzo-soprano Sarah Romberger she won second prize at the “GFF HfM Detmold – Lied Duo” competition in 2017. The greatest artistic impulses in her education came from Prof. Manuel Lange, Prof. Gerhild Romberger, Prof. Markus Köhler, Mr. Peter Kreutz, Prof. Julius Drake and Prof. Colin Stone. Ultimately she returned home, where she got a job as a assistent professor for collaborative piano.
