Angelika Kirchschlager, Mezzo-soprano & Ian Bostridge, Tenor & Julius Drake, Piano

“Religious fervor and sexual ecstasy are almost indistinguishable in these songs.”  Now that we have your attention, here’s what else Britain’s Opera Today said of this duo’s performance of Hugo Wolf’s treatment of 16th- and 17th-century Spanish poems: “Ian Bostridge and Angelika Kirchschlager revealed the profound emotional intensity of Wolf’s art; the concentrated ardour of their performance intimated the heightened passion and expressive angst which, as well as driving Wolf’s creative spirit, also led to persistent depression and resulted in insanity and finally death in a mental asylum at the age of 42.”

Mr. Bostridge ranks Wolf with Schubert and Schumann as the best of the 19th-century’s song composers. He and Ms. Kirchschlager will only perform these alluring songs at two other venues—Lincoln Center and the Kimmel Center—which puts Princeton University at the center of the lieder universe in 2013.