Olivia Sham – piano (by Erard, 1845. Performed upon by Thalberg)

Schumann Papillons, Op. 2
Mendelssohn Songs without Words, Book 1, Op. 19
W. Sterndale-Bennett Fantaisie, Op.16 (dedicated to Schumann)

Olivia Sham is a research fellow at the Royal Academy of Music, where she recently finished her doctorate on Liszt performance practice. This concert places the Fantaisie by Sir William Sterndale Bennett, whose bicentenary is this year, in the context of music by Mendelssohn and Schumann, who were his friends and admirers during study years in Leipzig.