Barbara Hannigan: Passion

The best performances rise from an artist’s deep passion for the music—and every track in this playlist features a musician who has inspired Barbara Hannigan through their total commitment to musical and technical excellence. The very best of them, Hannigan tells Apple Music Classical, “allow audiences into a ‘heart-to-heart’ connection with whatever music they perform.” Hannigan’s wide-ranging selection includes piano music by French composer Erik Satie played by the late pianist, conductor and composer Reinbert de Leeuw, one of Hannigan’s most formative mentors. “Reinbert gave his heart and soul to music and lived his passion through endless commitment to the music of our time,” she says. Staying in France, pianist Bertrand Chamayou brings a “magical, deep communion with music” to his performance of “Le baiser de l’enfant Jésus” from Messiaen’s Vingt Regards. Schumann’s ardent E-flat Piano Quintet showcases, says Hannigan, the “sheer intensity and power” of the Emerson Quartet (here joined by pianist Menahem Pressler). And in the opening “Adagio” of Haydn’s Symphony No. 49, conducted by Hannigan herself, she shines a light on the continuo harpsichord of Tineke Steenbrink who “plays the eerie, emotional harpsichord like a soul travelling through dark passages, seeking the light.”