Acclaimed soprano Soraya Mafi was born to an Iranian father and a second-generation Irish mother, and in tonight’s programme she explores both sides of this heritage. The first part of the concert begins with songs by Schubert, Schumann and Wolf, setting Persian-inspired poetry of Rückert and Goethe and revealing the perfumed notion these Romantic composers and poets had of Persian Culture. Soraya and Ian Tindale then present the world premiere of Book of Queens by our Associate Composer, Emily Hazrati; a cycle created with writer Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh and inspired by the Shahnameh (‘The Book of Kings’), the 10th-century epic poem by the Persian poet Ferdowsi (see Event 49). The second half of tonight’s recital returns to the Emerald Isle, with a glorious selection of evocative songs from Stanford to Ina Boyle.