06. Sarah Connolly & Julius Drake: Summer Nights
08 October 2021, 20:15 - 21:30
Concert

Iffley Road
Oxford
OX4 1EH

Star of The Last Night of the Proms and the world’s great stages, Dame Sarah Connolly’s Festival appearances are always eagerly anticipated. With the celebrated pianist Julius Drake, she sings Hector Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été (‘Summer nights’), a cycle of six songs that are one of the masterpieces of this firebrand composer. Also featured are songs by Ivor Gurney’s contemporaries Herbert Howells and John Ireland.
Emerging Artists Charles Cunliffe and Gus Tredwell open the evening with George Butterworth’s famous settings of A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad, which resonate strongly with our earlier focus on Ivor Gurney.
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
This event is an in-person and livestreamed event. Livestreamed performances will be available to watch live in our Digital Concert Hall at the advertised performance time and will be available to watch again and on demand until the end of November.
Want to watch this concert in-person and at home? ‘Hybrid’ tickets, valid both in person and for the Digital Concert Hall, are also available for an additional £3 to the in-person price.
All our seating is unreserved. This means you are guaranteed a seat in your chosen area, but not a specific seat. In order to allow for social distancing, you will be seated as an individual or as a group, based on the number of tickets you booked for this concert. For groups of more than 10, please phone or email the box office to book your tickets.
The performance duration is approximately 1 hour 15 minutes and there will be no interval.
TICKETS AND PASSES
(Online bookings only)
Book five or more concerts at the same time: 5% discount
Book ten or more concerts at the same time: 10% discount
Book fifteen or more concerts at the same time: 15% discount
For even further discounts click here for more information on our Festival Passes.
Tickets for both in-person and the Digital Concert Hall will be issued as eTickets by default. Printed tickets are available on request, for an additional fee.
COVID-19
Due to COVID-19 we have to do things a little differently this year. In order to keep everyone safe, our seating and concert conditions are subject to change in line with changing government guidance.
For more information about our COVID-19 safety measures, please click here.
If you are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 on the day of the concert, please do not attend, but get in touch with our box office to arrange a refund.
SEATING AREAS EXPLAINED
Due to uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and to keep audiences safe, our venues this year will be socially distanced, and our main seating areas have a reduced capacity. We have added two additional seating areas with a limited view of the stage, to allow you to experience our live concerts at a reduced price.
Seating area A (£35): Centre aisle seats, with a clear view of the stage.
Seating area B (£22): Side aisle and back section seats. Some seats may have a reduced view of the stage.
Seating area C (£13): At the back of the church with a reduced view of the stage..
Seating area D (£5): Side chapel or back corner. Please note these seats have no view of the stage.
Programme
George Butterworth (1885 - 1916)
Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad
Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869)
Les nuits d'été (Op. 7)
- 1. Villanelle
- 2. Le spectre de la rose
- 3. Sur les lagunes
- 4. Absence
- 5. Au cimetière
- 6. L'île inconnue
-
Herbert Howells (1892 - 1983)
O my deir heart - When there is Peace
- King David
-
John Ireland (1879 - 1962)
Her Song - My True Love Hath my Heart

Dame Sarah Connolly
Dame Sarah Connolly
Mezzo-soprano
Born in County Durham, Sarah Connolly studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, of which she is now a Fellow. She was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours, having previously been made a CBE in the 2010 New Year’s Honours. In 2011 she was honoured by the Incorporated Society of Musicians and presented with the Distinguished Musician Award. She is the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2012 Singer Award. Highlights in her 2018/19 season include Fricka Das Rheingold and Die Walküre at Covent Ga... Read Full Biography
Julius Drake
Julius Drake
Pianist
Julius Drake, described by The New Yorker magazine as the ‘collaborative pianist nonpareil’ lives in London and enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital and on disc. He appears regularly at all the major music centres and festivals: the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Munich, Schubertiade, and Salzburg Music Festivals; Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre New York; The Kennedy Center, Washington; The Royal Conc... Read Full Biography
Charles Cunliffe
Charles Cunliffe
Bass-baritone
Charles Cunliffe is a bass-baritone studying with Giles Underwood and Joseph Middleton at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2019, he was put forward as a RAM outstanding student, and was awarded the Silver Medal by the Company of Musicians, of which he has now become a Young Artist. Charles began singing as a chorister at Peterborough Cathedral, becoming a choral scholar in 2014. Soon after, he was offered a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music to study as an undergraduate. Charles has a strong affinity for song, and in the summer of 20... Read Full Biography
Gus Tredwell