Sisi Poems

2017 marked the 180th anniversary of the birth of Queen Elisabeth of Austria. A widely unknown fact is that "Sisi," as she was called by close friends and family, was a gifted poet, and that she provided for her lyrical work that it only be published decades after her passing. Elisabeth felt misunderstood by her fellow human beings. She became unpopular among the populace and at the court due to her many absences from Austria, and placed her entire hope in so-called "future souls" to whom she addressed her verses. In 2016, Viennese soprano Nina Bernsteiner inquired the internationally acclaimed - especially for his lied compositions - Austrian composer Albin Fries to set seventeen of Sisi's most beautiful poems to music. The result is presented on this release. Nina Bernsteiner has sung 60 roles in her career to date, and regularly presents song recitals and performs solo parts in oratorios and symphonies. Her concertising has taken her to nearly all of Europe, as well as China, Russia, and South Korea.