Close Encounters With Music’s April program, On the Wings of Song, centers on the remarkable creative exchange between Robert and Clara Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, and the poet Heinrich Heine—artists whose works illuminate Romanticism at its most searching and refined.

At its core is Schumann’s Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love), a song cycle of striking intimacy that traces love from its first stirrings to disillusion, bitterness, and ultimately a kind of quiet transcendence. Set to Heine’s poetry, it remains one of the most psychologically nuanced works in the vocal repertoire.

Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor offers a compelling counterpoint—its lyricism and structural clarity reflecting an abiding belief in beauty’s capacity to restore balance and meaning. The program also includes Mendelssohn’s setting of Heine’s On the Wings of Song, linking the evening’s literary and musical threads.

Baritone John Moore, noted for his interpretive depth, is joined by pianist Adam Golka (“brilliant technique and real emotional depth,” The Washington Post), along with violinist Miranda Cuckson (“a brilliant performer…with insight, honesty, and temperament,” The New York Times) and cellist Yehuda Hanani.

Tickets available through the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.