Being the baritone soloist in Peter Maxwell Davies’ song cycle “Eight songs for a mad king” is not an easy job. Being among the audience isn’t easy either. The singer screams, shouts, cries and plays through the eight songs describing the progressive mental illness of the English King George III (1738 – 1820).

However a great experience awaits those who endure. The cycle has become one of the best known works by Maxwell Davies, and an established part of the repertoire of several British music ensembles.

German ensemble recherche had performed this piece several times on tour in Europe but never before in their home town of Freiburg. For this concert they had joined up with the British baritone Martin Lindsay who is “one of the very few singers who are able and willing to sing this very exhausting part”.

The concert also included two other works by Maxwell Davies.