Cuckfield Celebrity

Stephen Fry supports Ensemble Reza’s concert

By Hannah Carter

Poster: Anna Jarvis

Poster: Anna Jarvis

We are very excited to announce that Stephen Fry recently agreed to narrate and record Richard Dehmel’s poem Transfigured Night (Verklärte Nacht) for our first ticketed concert of the year at Holy Trinity Church in Cuckfield on Sunday 18th October at 6pm.

I heard Stephen talking about the work Verklarte Nacht several years ago and I had always thought it would be amazing to have him narrate the poem for us. After a chat with a publishing friend and a few emails to his agent, he kindly agreed.

The recording is magical and brings the whole poem Transfigured Night (Verklärte Nacht) to life and makes the music even more special. Schoenberg wrote this piece when he was still influenced by the great German romantics like Brahms and Wagner, and it is beautifully melodic. The programme will also include Mozart’s brilliant Quintet in G Minor.

We have been running weekly live streamed concerts on the Ensemble Reza YouTube channel since March. Although nothing will ever beat the experience of being at a concert in person, we have mastered both the sound and picture for live events as our audience would agree: ‘Lovely sound! Feels like we are in the church too’.

We will be live streaming this concert from Holy Trinity Church in Cuckfield via a private link from our YouTube channel. Tickets cost £10 per household and available from: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/ensemble-reza. I hope you will be able to join us!