Albin Fries (1955-)
17 Lieder sur des poèmes de l'Impératrice Elisabeth d'Autriche
"In Sisi's Footsteps in Salzkammergut", 4 pièces pour pianos

Nina Bernsteiner, soprano
Ammiel Bushakevitz, piano
Gerhard Schlüsslmayr, piano

2017 marked the 180th anniversary of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. A widely unknown fact is that “Sisi” was a gifted poet, and that she provided for her lyrical work that it only be published decades after her passing. Elisabeth felt misunderstood by her fellow human beings. She became unpopular among the populace and at the court due to her many absences from Austria, and placed her entire hope in so-called “future souls” to whom she addressed her verses. In 2016, Viennese soprano Nina Bernsteiner inquired the internationally acclaimed – especially for his lied compositions – Austrian composer Albin Fries to set seventeen of Sisi’s most beautiful poems to music.