SERGEI VASILYEVICH RACHMANINOFF

Russian soprano Anna El-Khashem is a rising star of the opera world. Widely praised for the crystalline beauty of her voice, the 26-year-old singer made an acclaimed Opéra de Paris debut as Mozart’s Susanna earlier this year. Here she returns to her roots, singing Rachmaninoff’s “The Dream” with renowned German pianist Holger Groschopp. Setting a Symbolist poem about the mysterious nature of dreams, this is one of the last solo songs Rachmaninoff wrote (Op. 38 No. 5). El Khashem’s voice floats ethereally above the impressionistic accompaniment, grows in power as the writing intensifies, then fades away, leaving Groschopp to perform the lyrical postlude.