David Bowie (1947-2016)
Life on Mars

George Crumb (1929-2022)
The Night in Silence Under Many a Star, extrait de "Apparition"

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Feldeinsamkeit, op. 86 n° 2

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Im Frühling

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Ganymed, D 544
Abendstern, D 806
Der Wanderer an den Mond, D 870

Augusta Holmès (1847-1903)
Le vin, extrait de "Les sept ivresses"

Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979)
Lethe

Grace Slick (1939-)
White Rabbit

Claude vivier (1948-1983)
Hymnen an die Nacht

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Um Mitternacht

Ana Sokolovic (1968-)
Sur une étoile, extrait de "Tanzer Lieder"

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Tournoiement, songe d'opium, op. 26 n° 6, extrait de "Mélodies persanes"

Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)
The Ballad of Lucy Jordan

University of Iowa/NASA
auroral Kilometric Radiation

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007)
Extrait de "Tierkreis"

Eric Idle (1943-)/John du Prez (1946-)
Galaxy Song

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Katchikatchi les étoiles, extrait s de "Harawi"

China Forbes (1970-)/Thomas Lauderdale (1970-)
Una notte a Napoli

Nasa
Sound of solar wind, Parker solar probe

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Abendlied, op. 107 n° 6

Olivia Vermeulen, mezzo-soprano
Jan Philip Schulze, piano, synthétiseur

The third collaboration between mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen and Jan Philip Schulze (piano/synthesizer), In Heaven follows their earlier themed albums Dirty Minds and Hello Darkness, albums which were highly rated and won for instance an Edison Award and a Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. While the first two albums explored earthly themes of eroticism and mortality, this programme turns upward toward the heavens. The concept imagines a cosmic odyssey, blending art song, contemporary music, pop, and psychedelic classics into a voyage through utopian visions, distant planets, and the eternal human fascination with space. Interspersed with NASA sound recordings, the album situates the listener between heaven and earth, fantasy and reality, intoxication and transcendence. The repertoire is strikingly eclectic: David Bowie’s Life on Mars opens with real Martian storm sounds, while George Crumb, Brahms, Schubert, and Wolf provide lyrical reflections on stars, dreams, and transcendence. The programme flows seamlessly into Augusta Holmès’s exuberant drinking song Le vin, Rebecca Clarke’s opium-tinged Lethe, and Grace Slick’s psychedelic anthem White Rabbit. French and German masters like Saint-Saëns, Mahler, and Messiaen appear alongside Stockhausen’s Tierkreis, Monty Python’s satirical Galaxy Song, and Pink Martini’s Una notte a Napoli. The album closes with Robert Schumann’s radiant Abendlied, underscoring the dialogue between the infinite cosmos and human longing. Together, Vermeulen and Schulze create a soundscape that is at once virtuosic, witty, and deeply imaginative. Supported by percussion and bass in selected tracks, their performances draw on colour, theatricality, and stylistic versatility to transform familiar works into cosmic meditations. In Heaven ultimately reflects on humanity’s dreams of escape, intoxication, and utopia while acknowledging the grounding reality of earthbound existence. The result is a kaleidoscopic journey—playful yet profound, rooted in classical artistry yet open to pop culture—that challenges boundaries and offers listeners a musical mission into space.