Havana Schubertiade Returns to Old Havana

The Havana Schubertiade is back, this time with two concerts celebrating the extensive Lieder repertoire of Austrian composer Franz Schubert.

This year, the series will open with a performance of The Beautiful Miller’s Daughter, Schubert’s first and highly celebrated song cycle, widely performed and recorded as a masterwork of classical music. Taking on this musical challenge are tenor Jorge Luis Guzmán, accompanied by pianist Ana Paula Gil.

The second concert, titled Song and Story, will be the grand finale of the Havana Schubertiade. This unique gala will bring together ten opera singers and instrumentalists alongside actors, who will first recite each song’s text in Spanish, transforming the lyrics into short stories before they are sung in their original language. This blend of music, vocal artistry, and spoken narration creates a rich, multidimensional performance experience.

The first concert, The Beautiful Miller’s Daughter, will be held at Oratorio San Felipe Neri, located on Aguiar y Obrapía in the heart of Havana’s Historic Center, on Thursday, November 21, at 6:00 p.m.

The second event, Song and Story, featuring special guest Swedish soprano Charlotta Huldt, is set for Wednesday, November 27, at 6:00 p.m. in the Basilica of the Convent of St. Francis of Assisi. Both concerts are directed by Helson Hernández.

The Havana Schubertiade is supported by the Austrian Embassy in Cuba, CMBF Radio Musical Nacional, the Lyceum Mozartiano of Havana, and the Office of the Historian of Havana City.

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez