Following their albums "A Soprano's Schubertiade" and "Elysium", Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton present a new recital dedicated to Schubert's songs on the theme of the changing seasons. There have been other successful musical tributes to the four seasons, but Franz Schubert, a lover of nature, evokes them here in his songs. Winter, steeped in nostalgia, is represented here by three songs in which Schubert's hero sings of lost love. But the gloomy thoughts soon give way to spring, which stands for optimism and hope as nature comes back to life: 'Welcome, with your cheerful swarm of newly awakened creatures around me'. When life is in full swing in summer, the hero now seems unsure whether his search for love will have a happy ending. In autumn, which is evoked here through six songs, the hero can only admit his failure, which is reflected in nature preparing for a month-long sleep: 'Ah, as the stars disappear in the sky, so does the hope of life'. Clarinettist Michael Collins accompanies the duo on a song, "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen", Schubert's penultimate composition. This extended song, inspired by yodeling, ends with the hope of a better life, as spring is just around the corner and the prophetic words 'Now I prepare to go wandering' herald the composer's approaching death.