Swedish Wedding Of Prince Carl Philip Is Royal Musical Miss

Non-Operatic Pairing: Prince Carl Philip with 
his bride Sofia. See the full program of the
 wedding ceremony by clicking here.

HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden married Sofia Hellqvist on June 13, 2015, in The Royal Chapel of The Royal Palace. Following the footprint for the nuptials of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia Sommerlath, assembling guests were treated to "compositions for Royal Weddings" by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johan Helmich Roman, and George Friederic Händel. That would be the end of the classical music for this ceremony. What followed was the inclusion of non-traditional music such as "Athair ar Neamh" by Enya for the Procession,  "Fix You" by Coldplay (sung by Salem Al Fakir) before the Intercession, and "Joyful, joyful" (sung by Samuel Ljungblahd) at the Bridal Recession. No surprise that a love of pop music runs in the family, as his parents were treated to an ABBA concert at the Royal Opera the night before their wedding in 1976. As this trend toward lack of vocal music at young royal weddings continues, will opera singers be banished from these events in the future? There is a plethora of actively performing Swedish sopranos and mezzo-sopranos that could have been engaged for this special occasion, including Anne Sofie von Otter, Miah Persson, Nina Stemme, Katarina Karnéus, Ann Hallenberg, and more. Check out videos of the country's overlooked singers (including Peter Mattei), after the jump.

Anne Sofie Von Otter Leads New CD Releases For Spring 2015

Miah Persson Sings Schumann (Both Robert and Clara...)

"Women in love, in pain and in emotional turmoil such is the subject matter of most of the songs that Swedish soprano Miah Persson and pianist Joseph Breinl have chosen for this recital of works by Robert and Clara Schumann. The year of Robert and Claras wedding is often called "Schumanns Liederjahr"; during this year of song he composed more than 150 songs, and his wedding gift to Clara was in fact a song cycle, Myrthen, Op. 25. Sixteen songs dated 1840 can be found here, including the Frauenliebe und Leben cycle, the crowning achievement of the year. But Robert also encouraged Clara to write songs and in 1841 they jointly published a collection entitled The Spring of Love. Clara had composed three of the songs (the 3 Lieder, Op. 12) and Robert the remaining nine, including "Der Himmel hat eine Träne geweint." This disc also features Roberts final song cycle composed in 1852 and focussing on the life and tragic end of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots along with four of Claras last songs. As well as being well-known in opera houses across the world, Miah Persson is increasingly in demand as a recitalist, performing regularly with Joseph Breinl." [Source]

A complete listing of the CD contents can be found after the jump.