Easter’s over: may’s out and May’s in; and so, if the thorny interpretation of the old adage is to be believed, it’s time to start casting clouts right, left and centre (though, in our climate…)

The poet Heine, more than ably assisted by the composer Schumann, captured another – slightly more romantic – aspect of the May month. And, as another equally, if not more, famous poet put it (with the obligatory hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino dotted here and there):

Sweet lovers love the Spring

Fritz Wunderlich and Hubert Giesen capture the deep longing of the opening of the Heine/Schumann song cycle Dichterliebe [Poet’s Love]:

               Im wunderschönen Monat Mai,
               Als alle Knospen sprangen,
               Da ist in meinem Herzen
               Die Liebe aufgegangen.

               Im wunderschönen Monat Mai,
              Als alle Vögel sangen,
              Da hab' ich ihr gestanden
              Mein Sehnen und Verlangen.

              In the wonderous month of May
              When all the buds are bursting open,
              There, from my own heart,
              Bursts forth my own love.

              In the wonderous month of May -
              When all the birds are singing,
              So have I confessed to her
              My yearning and my longing.

And, don’t forget, Tuesday and Wednesday see the start of two ten-week courses in Swansea – Russian Opera & The Piano Concerto.