The centerpiece for these productions is Brahms’ Liebeslieder (Love Songs) Waltzes. The work consists of eighteen poems arranged for two pianos and vocal quartet, setting texts from George Friedrich Daumer’s Polydora. Brahms’ sketches suggest that he conceived the shape of the entire cycle before completing individual waltzes.

After Brahms received a copy of the first edition he wrote to the publisher in Berlin, “I must confess that it was the first time I smiled at the sight of a printed work of mine!” Brahms’ Liebeslieder represent the mingling of the folk music of northern Germany and the waltzes and Ländler of Upper Austria. In effect, Brahms’ Liebeslieder are stylized Viennese waltzes.

Soprano Lauren Snouffer is a graduate of Rice University Shepard School of Music. While a student, she sang the roles of Giannetta in L’Elisir D’amore and Zerlina in Don Giovanni . Ms. Snouffer performs with the Austin-based choral ensemble Conspirare, with whom she recorded the two-time Grammy-nominated Threshold of Night. In 2008, she attended the Aspen Music Festival as a New Horizons fellow. In 2009 she returned to Aspen to sing the role of Lucia in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia.

Mezzo-soprano Vanessa Cariddi made her professional operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Salome. Since that time, Ms. Cariddi has continued at the Met, touring Japan with the company in 2006 in the role of Waltraute in Die Walküre, in a stellar cast that included Placido Domingo, Deborah Voigt, Rene Pape, and James Morris.

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ms. Cariddi’s Carmen was described thusly, “… with her youthful mezzo-soprano and honeyed tone, [Ms. Cariddi] was a Carmen of many colors.” In 2008, she made her role debut as Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte with Sarasota Opera.

Tenor Paul Appleby’s opera credits include the role of Achille in the Juilliard Opera Theater’s production of Iphigénie en Aulide, Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Chautauqua Institute, and Le Mari in Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias with Notre Dame Opera. He made his debut with the New York Festival of Song this past January. Recent performances include appearances with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and with the Opera Theater of St. Louis. Mr. Appleby graduated from the University of Notre Dame and is currently a graduate student at The Juilliard School.

Hailed by the New York Times for his “appealing clarity and emotional heft,” and calling him a “naturally communicative artist” possessing an “earthy and warm” voice, bass-baritone Evan Hughes has garnered attention for both his recital and operatic work. After winning the grand prize in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, Mr. Hughes had his New York City recital debut at the Foundation’s “On Wings of Song” series. In January 2008, he made his Carnegie Hall debut. This season he will sing Leporello, in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Schwartz in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Driving directions to Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes

5401 Bay Shore Rd Sarasota, FL 34243