KAFKA FRAGMENTS

Claire Booth & Tamsin Waley-Cohen

Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield
Thursday 21 May 2026, 9.00pm

Tickets:
£17
£10 UC, PIP & DLA
£5 Students & Under 35s

Book Tickets
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KURTÁG Kafka Fragments (60’)  

Comprising 40 short excerpts from Kafka’s writings, diaries, and letters – often heartfelt and confessional – Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments is a work of sparse, lyrical beauty. Scored for violin and soprano, this wide-ranging work encapsulates the scale of the human experience, from dreamlike surrealism to moments of sardonic humour and lyrical beauty.  

“Grieg’s music seems to breathe the fjords and valleys of Norway, capturing something elemental in its landscape and spirit. Veslemøy, the visionary heroine of Haugtussa, stands on the threshold between reality and myth, embodying a tension that runs deep in Nordic culture. Seeking an English parallel, I commissioned Gavin Higgins to create a paean to our own hills and dales. The resulting chamber cycle exceeds anything I imagined: weaving together texts from the Brontës to Symmons Roberts, it blends earth, industry, folklore, and modern life via press gangs, the Sycamore Gap, mining landscapes and urban soundscapes—into a vividly wonderful and distinctly northern tapestry.” Claire Booth, 2026

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“[Booth’s] voice blazes with energy and subsides in exhausted despair. It’s a real tour de force. She has done nothing finer.”

The Guardian

About the Artists

Claire Booth

“An actor-singer who can raise the dramatic heat as soon as she enters the stage” (Opera Now), “that most questing, resourceful and intelligent of sopranos” (Daily Telegraph), British soprano Claire Booth has been widely acclaimed for her “radiant, rapturous, wonderfully nuanced performances” and voice of “piercing purity [and] luscious richness” (The Scotsman). She is renowned for her breadth of repertoire, and for the vitality and musicianship that she brings to the operatic stage and concert platform, with a versatility that encompasses repertoire spanning from Monteverdi and Handel, through Rossini, Berg and Britten, to a fearless commitment to the music of the present day. Booth has won the 2025 RPS Singer Award with the jury celebrating an artistry that “knows no bounds.” Read more.

Tamsin Waley-Cohen

British-American violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen is known for her visceral and deeply expressive performances in repertoire spanning six centuries. With musical storytelling central to her approach, she has gained a reputation for her “undeniably-fabulous playing” (Classical Source) and poetic performances that go straight to the heart. In addition to concerts with the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Hallé, Liverpool Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia and BBC orchestras, amongst others, she has twice been associate artist with the Orchestra of the Swan and worked with conductors including Andrew Litton, Vasily Petrenko, Ben Gernon, Ryan Bancroft and Tamás Vásáry. Read more.