Robert, Clara & Johannes: Aoife Miskelly, Johnny Herford & William Vann
28 October 2016, 13:10
Lunchtime Recital

Holywell St
Oxford
OX1 3BN

Johannes Brahms burst into the lives of Robert and Clara Schumann in 1853. Clara noted in her diary that "a wonderful person...as if sent straight from God" had appeared in their lives. As Robert declined into his mental illness, Brahms was a rock to Clara, and the two became very close. How close, we will never know, but an extraordinary series of letters between the two survives, and in this recital we hear the letters of Robert, Clara and Johannes threaded among some of the fascinating songs that these three composers wrote during those troubled years.
Please note that this concert also forms part of the study day 'Late Style and Legacy' and is included in the ticket price for the day.
Why not purchase a Lunchtime Pass? This pass gives access to all ten lunchtime recitals, weekdays at 1:10pm, for £100. The price includes a discount and provides access to popular recitals which have sold out, such as Roderick Williams on Monday the 24th of October and Dame Felicity Lott on Wednesday the 26th. Click here to purchase.
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Programme
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)
Fünf heitere Gesänge (Op. 125)
- 1. Frühlingslied
- 2. Frühlingslust
- 3. Die Meerfee
- 4. Jung Volkers Lied
- 5. Husarenabzug
-
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)
Letter to Johann Jacob Brahms (father of Johannes) (5 November 1853) -
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Letter to Robert Schumann (29 November 1853) Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Sechs Gesänge (Op. 3)
-
Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896)
Diary entry upon meeting Brahms (October 1853) Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896)
Sechs Lieder aus Jucunde (Op. 23)
-
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)
Letter to Johannes Brahms (27 November 1854) Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)
Drei Gedichte aus den Waldliedern von Gustav Pfarrius (Op. 119)
- 1. Die Hütte
- 2. Warnung
- 3. Der Bräutigam und die Birke
-
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Letter to Robert Schumann (30 December 1854) -
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Mondnacht (WoO 21) -
Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896)
Letter to Johannes Brahms (10 July 1879) -
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Letter to Clara Schumann (30 January 1861) -
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Die Boten der Liebe (Op. 61 no.4)

Aoife Miskelly
Aoife Miskelly
Soprano
Northern Irish soprano Aoife Miskelly studied as a Sickle Foundation Scholar at the Royal Academy Opera under Jennifer Dakin and Audrey Hyland, graduating with the Regency Award in 2012. During her studies, Aoife was a Kathleen Ferrier Awards finalist (2010), won a BBC Northern Ireland Young Artists Platform Award (Arts Council of NI sponsored), and was a Samling Scholar and Britten-Pears Young Artist. During the 2012/14 seasons Aoife was part of the opera studio at Cologne Opera, including singing roles on the main stage such as Gil... Read Full Biography
Johnny Herford
Johnny Herford
Baritone
Johnny Herford was the winner of the Song Prize at the 2013 Kathleen Ferrier Awards, and of the Jean Meikle Duo Prize at the 2013 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, is a Samling Scholar and an alumnus of the Britten-Pears School, and studied with Thomas Quasthoff at the Verbier Festival. Johnny Herford’s current engagements include his debut at English National Opera and he will create the central role in the World Premiere of Peter Eötvös’s The Golden Dragon for Mu... Read Full Biography
William Vann
William Vann
Pianist
A multiple-prize winning and critically acclaimed conductor and accompanist, William Vann is equally at home on the podium or at the piano. Gramophone, reviewing Purer than Pearl, Albion Records’ 2016 disc of Vaughan Williams song, reserved “a special word of praise for William Vann’s deft pianism”; his recent revival of Hubert Parry’s oratorio Judith at Royal Festival Hall “was an unalloyed triumph for William Vann…he had complete command of the score and evident belief in the music” (Seen an... Read Full BiographyFestival Passes
This event is part of a series:
The Schumann Project
The Schumann Project: 14-29 October 2016 The fifteenth Oxford Lieder Festival will be the Schumann Project, a unique survey of Schumann's complete songs. The Schumann Project will explore Schumann's life and times, his friends and contemporaries, his influences and his legacies, and his literary and artistic interests. This two-week feast of song will feature Oxford Lieder's trad...