The Last of the Romantics - Mahler and fin-de-siècle Vienna
13th - 28th October 2017
Please click here to view the full Festival brochure.
Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century was a vibrant melting pot for music and the arts. Whirling waltzes sat alongside gargantuan symphonies. The height of romanticism had been reached but was nearly exhausted and on the brink of a whole new musical language. Tradition - with Brahms a holder of the torch - was face to face, sometimes uncomfortably, with the daring and modern.
Gustav Mahler was a dominant musical personality: composer and preeminent conductor, steeped in tradition but a champion of the new. During this edition of the Oxford Lieder Festival, Mahler's complete songs with piano will be heard, inviting a fresh look at this 'symphonic' composeer and the enduring place of song in the musical landscape. His choices of texts, wider artistic influences from literature to art to nature and folk music, his Jewish background in a conservative Catholic city, his encounter with Sigmund Freud, his encouragement of fellow composers and more will all be explored in this packed fortnight.
Mahler's Vienna will also be placed in a wider context, with tradition represented in the songs of Schubert and Beethoven, an exploration of Brahms' glorious melodic gifts and intricate text setting, and music by Hugo Wolf (who excoriated Brahms!), Alexander Zemlinsky, Erich Korngold, Joseph Marx and others. Richard Strauss may not have resided in Vienna until 1919, but his musical language was evolving within the Viennese traditions and many of his songs will also be heard. A late-night salon will look ahead to the Second Viennese School, including several of Schoenberg's seminal works. Study days, readings, screenings, workshops and more once again make for an exhilirating Festival that will illuminate the era and inspire audiences afresh and anew.
Friday 13th October 2017
10:45 AM
Arts & Crafts: Part One
13 Oct 2017 10:45 | Holywell Music Room
The Festival begins with a fascinating event linking fin-de-siècle Vienna and Oxford through the visual arts, exploring contemporaneous developments in the English Arts and Crafts movement and the Austro- German ‘Jugendstil’. Beginning in the Holywell Music Room with a general introduction to the artistic thinking of the period, Antony Buxton leads a visit to Harris Manche...
12:30 PM
Schools Concert
Free Events Families & Children
13 Oct 2017 12:30 | Ashmolean Museum
Experience the fantastic creative work of local schoolchildren who have taken part in workshops over the previous weeks, writing the words and music of their very own song cycle. This short concert takes place in the atrium of the Ashmolean Museum and is always an uplifting event. No booking is necessary: simply drop in and support these young people in their performance.
2:00 PM
Arts & Crafts: Part Two
13 Oct 2017 14:00 | Ashmolean Museum: Lecture Theatre
This is the second part of our day exploring Oxford and Vienna at the turn of the 20th Century through the contemporaneous movements in the visual arts. Matthew Winterbottom, Curator of Nineteenth-Century Decorative Arts at the Ashmolean Museum, gives an illustrated lecture on the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts and Crafts pioneers, citing examples in the Museum and leading a gallery vis...
4:00 PM
The Viennese Café
13 Oct 2017 16:00 | Café W at Waterstones
En route from the Ashmolean to the Holywell Music Room, call in to the excellent café in Waterstones, briefly transformed into a Viennese coffee house. Surrounded by books and with coffee and Viennese cake in hand, take in waltzes by Johann Strauss, Viennese tunes by Fritz Kreisler, Brahms Hungarian Dances and more, performed by violinist Sophie Rosa (who also plays Beethoven a...
5:15 PM
Glitter and Doom
13 Oct 2017 17:15 | Holywell Music Room
Writer and broadcaster Gavin Plumley introduces the cultural melting pot that was Vienna at the turn of the last century, featuring figures such as Freud, Klimt and Mahler. This wider backdrop gives an essential insight into the period and the place, setting the scene for the Festival ahead.
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
13 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
On almost every evening during the Festival, a special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoy a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Opening Night: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Kemp, Alder, Spence, Henschel
Last Few Tickets!
13 Oct 2017 19:30 | The Sheldonian Theatre
THE OPENING-NIGHT CONCERT IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY: The Festival gets offto a stunning start, welcoming a stellar team of musicians to the Sheldonian Theatre. Please note that Louise Alder will replace Kate Royal in tonight's concert. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Thomas Kemp, perform two of Mahler's great vocal works in chamber orchestrations, c...Saturday 14th October 2017
11:00 AM
Mahler: A life in Song Part I
14 Oct 2017 11:00 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
Gavin Plumley leads two fascinating study days (see also Saturday 21), in association with the Mahler Society. Joined by an exceptional team of musicians, in his lecture-recitals he will guide us through Mahler’s world, exploring his life, songs and surroundings in depth, and casting the composer in a more varied light than does the usual view of him as an epic symphonist. A linchpin of t...
12:00 PM
Bring and Sing
14 Oct 2017 12:00 | Holywell Music Room
A chance for one and all to tread the boards of the Holywell Music Room. To book a place, please buy a ticket. Sophie will be in touch within 5 working days from receipt of your booking. If you have any questions prior to making a booking, please email her at [email protected]
5:30 PM
Gurney and Britten: Peter Harris & Hamish Brown
14 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
Peter Harris and Hamish Brown were joint winners of the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform, giving a stunning audition recital at the Spring Weekend of Song. Today they give their showcase concert, in a programme featuring Ivor Gurney’s moving 1919 settings of A.E. Housman, Ludlow and Teme, and Britten’s remarkable settings of John Donne. They also include American c...
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
14 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Songs of Youth & Experience: Anna Stéphany & Sholto Kynoch
Sold Out - Waiting List Only
14 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
Following a sensational 2015 recital and recent acclaim in the Royal Opera's Der Rosenkavalier and Glyndebourne's La Clemenza di Tito, Anna Stéphany makes a welcome return to the Festival, joined by Oxford Lieder's artistic director Sholto Kynoch. The first half of their programme includes songs by the young Mahler, written in the 1880s and inspired by nature a...
10:00 PM
Pierrot Lunaire
14 Oct 2017 22:00 | New College Ante Chapel
Members of the dynamic and award-winning Shadwell Opera company perform Schoenberg's ground-breaking Pierrot Lunaire, one of the seminal works of the early twentieth century. This epic monodrama for solo voice and five instrumentalists is ideally suited to an evocative late-night performance in New College Ante-Chapel. Rising star soprano Alice Privett, recently hailed by the Guardian ...Sunday 15th October 2017
12:30 PM
Silent Opera
15 Oct 2017 12:30 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
In preparation for the evening's Rosenkavalier screening, Matthew Sweet, author and presenter of BBC Radio 3's 'Sound of Cinema', leads a discussion about the history of music in silent films, as well as a more specific look at this opera/film. 12.30pm - Matthew Sweet will be joined by conductor Thomas Kemp, with players from OAE and their Chief Executive Cris...
4:00 PM
My Dearest Hedgehog
15 Oct 2017 16:00 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
Please note that Penny Downie has regretfully had to withdraw from this concert. We are extremely grateful to Penelope Wilton and delighted that she is able to step in. This narrated recital, devised and written by Henrietta Bredin and already performed in numerous venues to great acclaim, explores the relationship between Richard Strauss and his wife, Pauline. Strauss wrote many o...
5:30 PM
Festive Supper
15 Oct 2017 17:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:00 PM
Der Rosenkavalier: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & Thomas Kemp
15 Oct 2017 19:00 | Town Hall
This promises to be one of the Festival highlights: a film screening with live accompaniment from one of our great orchestras. Strauss’s peerless opera Der Rosenkavalier, set in Vienna, premiered in 1911. A silent-film version (not as rare as might be thought: find out more at our earlier study events) followed in 1926, and at the London premiere at the Tivoli Theatre on The Strand, ...Monday 16th October 2017
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1:10 PM
Franz Schubert: Katharina Ruckgaber & Sholto Kynoch
16 Oct 2017 13:10 | Holywell Music Room
Please note that Christina Gansch is unwell and has regretfully had to withdraw from this concert. We are very grateful to Katharina Ruckgaber for stepping in at short notice. We are delighted to welcome the outstanding German soprano Katharina Ruckgaber to open our lunchtime series, in a wonderful all-Schubert programme. Katharina recently appeared in the Wigmore Hall Schubert song series w...
3:00 PM
A New World, New Music, New Horizons
16 Oct 2017 15:00 | Blackwell's Bookshop - The Norrington Room
Peter McMullin, Blackwell's printed music specialist, examines the world of music publishing in the early twentieth century, focusing on the works of Mahler, Schoenberg and Strauss.
5:30 PM
Schubert & Korngold: Rowland, Lukas, Lidström, Forsberg
16 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
Korngold's unique Suite for piano left hand and strings, Op. 23, is played by a star team of chamber musicians, alongside Schubert's String Trio in B flat, D581.
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
16 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Winterreise: Roman Trekel & Michael Dussek
Sold Out - Waiting List Only
16 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
An eagerly-anticipated Festival debut for the renowned German baritone Roman Trekel, joined this evening by pianist Michael Dussek. Schubert's Winterreise is no less striking now than it was for Schubert's friends in 1827, and it has fascinated and influenced so many other song composers ever since. Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Winterriese (Wilhem Müller), D...Tuesday 17th October 2017
1:10 PM
Serious Songs: Ashley Riches & Sholto Kynoch
17 Oct 2017 13:10 | Holywell Music Room
BBC New Generation Artist Ashley Riches is one of the bright stars of the song world. His programme includes Brahms' extraordinary Four Serious Songs, settings of biblical texts that he wrote in 1896, his last songs. Also included are songs by Schubert and Dvorák.
3:00 PM
Brahms's Late Idyll
17 Oct 2017 15:00 | The Shulman Auditorium, The Queen's College
Natasha Loges discusses themes of nostalgia, idyll and resignation in Brahms’s late works, against the backdrop of his adoptive home Vienna. Her talk will be illustrated with songs sung by mezzo-soprano Emma Stannard.
5:30 PM
Brahms & The Clarinet
17 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
Brahms was inspired to come out of his self-imposed retirement by the playing of the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. Several works for clarinet followed, among them his glorious Clarinet Trio, Op.114 (1891), heard here alongside a movement of Zemlinsky’s Clarinet Trio and Schubert’s evergreen Shepherd on the Rock.
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
17 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.%20JPEG%20Resized_square_md.jpg)
7:30 PM
Songs from the East: Benjamin Appl & Graham Johnson
Sold Out - Waiting List Only
17 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
Already internationally known, Benjamin Appl is joined by the ‘peerless song accompanist’ (Daily Telegraph) Graham Johnson for a programme of Lieder vom Orient that includes Brahms’s Op.32 songs, settings of Platen and Daumer. The eastern-inspired poetry of Rückert, Heine, Goethe, Geibel and Byron is heard in songs by Schubert, Schumann – whose Rückert settings were su...Wednesday 18th October 2017
1:10 PM
Schubert and Strauss: Kathryn Rudge & Christopher Glynn
18 Oct 2017 13:10 | Holywell Music Room
Kathryn Rudge is a member of the BBC New Generation Artist scheme and together with pianist Christopher Glynn she presents a programme of favourite Strauss songs alongside songs by Schubert and Schumann's 'Mary Stuart' songs.
3:00 PM
Songs and Soundworlds
18 Oct 2017 15:00 | Okinaga Room
Katy Hamilton explores Richard Strauss's Lieder, the role of his wife Pauline de Ahna as muse and interpreter, and the musical battles being fought in Vienna, the city he would later make his home.
5:30 PM
Enoch Arden: Sir Thomas Allen & Simon Lepper
18 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
Strauss’s setting of Tennyson’s Enoch Arden was hugely successful in its day. This is a rare chance to hear a live performance of a work in which the narrative, performed here by our patron Sir Thomas Allen, is interspersed with music for solo piano.
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
18 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Richard Strauss: Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence & Roger Vignoles
Sold Out - Waiting List Only
18 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
Concluding a day of events devoted to the works of Richard Strauss, whose gift for melody and word painting knew no bounds, a stellar team of artists present a wide range of his glorious songs.Thursday 19th October 2017
11:30 AM
Baudelaire: From the Depths of Beauty
19 Oct 2017 11:30 | The Weston Library: Lecture Theatre
Presented in association with the Bodleian Libraries. In the 150th anniversary of Baudelaire's death, Helen Abbott leads two sessions exploring the poet's appearances in the music of Berg and Debussy and looking more widely at the influence and dissemination of his work. Is Baudelaire the last of the Romantic French poets? How does his work end up in Vienna? What influences ...
1:10 PM
Baudelaire In Song: Sophie Karthäuser, Eugene Asti & Doric String Quartet
19 Oct 2017 13:10 | Holywell Music Room
A dream team of artists visit Paris and Vienna. The programme is bound by the work of Charles Baudelaire, who died 150 years ago and whose poetry is set in Alban Berg's stunning Lyric Suite and Debussy's Wagnerian songs of 1887–9, the Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire.
5:30 PM
Haydn & Beethoven: Doric String Quartet
19 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
'Please note that this programme has changed from that advertised in the Festival brochure The Doric String Quartet are the leading quartet of their generation, appearing on major stages the world over, and they are firm favourites in the Lieder Festival's chamber music series. Today, they perform one of Haydn's great quartets, Op. 64 no. 6, alongside Beethove...
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
19 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
La Bonne Chanson: Mark Padmore & Imogen Cooper
Sold Out - Waiting List Only
19 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
A detour from our Viennese theme sees this phenomenal pairing of artists perform songs by Schumann (including the Eichendorff Liederkreis) and Hahn, concluding with Fauré's uplifting cycle La bonne Chanson.Friday 20th October 2017
1:10 PM
The End of Romanticism: Caitlin Hulcup & Lada Valesová
20 Oct 2017 13:10 | Holywell Music Room
This programme features songs from the very height of Romanticism: richly tonal early Schoenberg, Berg’s Seven Early Songs and songs by Zemlinsky and Korngold. Mezzo Caitlin Hulcup, recently described as ‘magnificent’ by the Guardian, and pianist Lada Valešová also include a handful of songs by Egon Wellesz, an Austrian Jewish émigré composer who se...
3:00 PM
Mahler's Legacy: Schoenberg and Beyond?
20 Oct 2017 15:00 | Blackwell's Bookshop - The Norrington Room
Mahler broke musical barriers, enabling a younger generation of Viennese Jewish composers. Highly respected author, curator and historian Michael Haas explores those composers freed by Mahler's influence, and asks whether there is a direct line to be drawn between Mahler and the Second Viennese School. Standing places will also be available on the day
5:30 PM
Korngold Quintet: Liebeck, Carroll, Forsberg
20 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
The great Swedish pianist and Korngold enthusiast Bengt Forsberg returns with a team of world-class string players to perform Korngold’s Piano Quintet, Op.15, one of the most important works of his output. Star violinist Jack Liebeck, well known to Oxford audiences as the artistic director of Oxford May Music, also plays the wonderful Much Ado about Nothing suite for violin and ...
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
20 Oct 2017 18:30 | St Stephen's House
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
8:00 PM
Mahler, Korngold & Zemlinsky: Sarah Connolly & Eugene Asti
Last Few Tickets!
20 Oct 2017 20:00 | Saint John the Evangelist
It is always a special delight to welcome back stars of the international stage Sarah Connolly and Eugene Asti. Tonight they perform Mahler’s ever-popular Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (‘Songs of a wayfarer’) setting four of his own texts and written in 1884–5. They also include songs by Alma Mahler, Zemlinsky's six settings of Maeterlinck and a group of songs by K...Saturday 21st October 2017
9:30 AM
Masterclass Day
21 Oct 2017 09:30 | Headington School: The Music School
This is an immersive day of masterclasses for enthusiastic amateur singers led by highly renowned artists. Each participant will receive 30 minutes of individual coaching and will also gain from observing fellow participants' sessions throughout the day an accompanist will be available, and a light lunch is also provided. These masterclass are mixed level and anyone may apply. two ...
11:00 AM
Mahler: A life in Song Part II
21 Oct 2017 11:00 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
The second of Gavin Plumley’s two study days surveying Mahler’s life and songs, presented in association with the Mahler Society. See also Saturday 14. Joined by an exceptional team of musicians, these lecture-recitals will guide us through Mahler's life, exploring his life, songs and surroundings in depth. 11am Welcome coffee 11.30am Lecture-recit...
11:00 AM
Masterclass for Music College Applicants
21 Oct 2017 11:00 | Holywell Music Room
Robin Bowman leads a class for those aspiring to study music at college. Click here for details on taking part. Free to observers. To book a performance place, please buy a ticket. Sophie will be in touch within 5 working days from receipt of your booking. If you have any questions prior to making a booking, please email her at [email protected]
5:00 PM
Showcase Recital: Joel Williams, James Atkinson & Joao Araujo
21 Oct 2017 17:00 | Holywell Music Room
Three outstanding young musicians give this year’s Royal College of Music platform recital, including works by Brahms and settings of Rückert by Schumann.
7:30 PM
Rückert Lieder: Thomas Oliemans & Malcolm Martineau
Sold Out - Waiting List Only
21 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
Please note that Sylvia Schwartz is unwell and has regretfully had to withdraw from this concert. We are very grateful to Thomas Oliemans for stepping in at short notice.
10:00 PM
Motets at Merton
21 Oct 2017 22:00 | Merton College Chapel
One of Oxford's finest chapel choirs presents a programme of motets by Brahms and composers he would have conducted as director of the Wiener Singakademie, including Schütz, Gabrieli and Bach. Also included is a rare arrrangement of Mahler's 'Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen' from the Rückert Lieder.Sunday 22nd October 2017
11:15 AM
Mahler: Reader, Thinker, Composer
22 Oct 2017 11:15 | The Weston Library: Lecture Theatre
Mahler has been celebrated since his own day not just for his musical gifts, but also for his wide-ranging literary and intellectual interests. This Study Day will explore the world of the mind behind the music, focusing particularly on the songs which are an equal legacy to his symphonies. Talks by expert researchers will cover topics such as his choice of texts, the poets who inspired him, th...
1:45 PM
Mahler: Reader, Thinker, Composer: Christina Sidak & Deirdre Brenner
22 Oct 2017 13:45 | Holywell Music Room
As part of our study day, Mahler: Reader, Thinker, Composer, Christina Sidak, one of Austria’s most exciting young mezzos, and superb American pianist Deirdre Brenner perform songs by Gustav and Alma Mahler, and other repertoire that features in the day’s discussions, including songs by Schubert and Schumann._square_md.jpg)
5:30 PM
From Vienna to Moscow: Michael Mofidian & Keval Shah
22 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
Bass-baritone Michael Mofidian and Keval Shah gave an exceptional recital at the Spring Weekend of Song auditions for the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platforms. They were clear winners (joint with Peter Harris and Hamish Brown, who give their showcase recital on Satuday 14 October) and today give their Festival recital in a programme that takes us from Vienna to Moscow via Helsinki with son...
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
22 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Sibelius & Mahler: Maria Forsström & Matti Hirvonen
22 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
In the centenary year of Finnish independence, it seems apt to celebrate the country’s greatest composer, Jean Sibelius, who met Mahler in 1907. Following a selection of Sibelius songs, this exceptional duo of Swedish artists perform Mahler’s profoundly moving Kindertotenlieder.Monday 23rd October 2017
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day One
23 Oct 2017 10:00 | Headington School: The Music School
We are thrilled to welcome the internationally celebrated mezzo- soprano Ann Murray to lead this year’s residential Mastercourse. Each day the students also work with a renowned guest tutor, and observers are free to move between these fascinating sessions. Ann Murray Britten Room, Headington School 1000 Maria Ladurner (soprano) & Barbara Sattler 1035 Rac...
1:10 PM
Franz Schubert: Alessandro Fisher & Sholto Kynoch
23 Oct 2017 13:10 | Headington School: The Hall
Alessandro Fisher, one of today’s most exciting young tenors, was joint first-prize winner at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards in 2016. Also a former Oxford Lieder Young Artist, he presents an all-Schubert programme with Sholto Kynoch, including settings of poems by Schubert’s great friend Johann Mayrhofer, and songs on one of Schubert's favourite themes: water.
5:30 PM
Brahms and Zemlinsky: Piatti String Quartet, Johnston, Papadakis
23 Oct 2017 17:30 | Headington School: The Hall
Brahms's two string sextets are epic works of the chamber music repertoire. The second of them, Op.36 in G, is presented here with Zemlinsky's rarely-heard but beautiful song for soprano and string sextet, Maiblumen blühten überall. We are delighted to welcome the Piatti String Quartet to the Festival for the first time.
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
23 Oct 2017 18:30 | St Stephen's House
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
8:00 PM
Die Schöne Müllerin: Roderick Williams & Iain Burnside
Last Few Tickets!
23 Oct 2017 20:00 | Saint John the Evangelist
Schubert's pioneering song cycle, Die schöne Müllerin, which influenced composers up to, including and beyond Mahler, is given star treatment in this concert, sure to be a highlight of the Festival.
9:30 PM
Late-Night Salon
23 Oct 2017 21:30 | The Mad Hatter
The second part of the Piatti Quartet’s evening in Oxford is in a very different setting: our own ‘salon’, where the bar will be open and you’ll hear Schoenberg’s striking Second String Quartet alongside a seemingly opposing side of his character in the form of his mischievous and sometimes outrageous cabaret songs. We also present the world premiere of a new work ...Tuesday 24th October 2017
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day Two
24 Oct 2017 10:00 | Headington School: The Music School
We are thrilled to welcome the world-famous mezzo-soprano Ann Murray to lead this year's residential Mastercourse. Each day the students also work with a renowned guest tutor, and observers are free to move between these fascinating sessions. Richard Jackson Britten Room, Headington School 1000 Teng Xiang Ting (soprano) & Victor Lim 1035 Georg Klimbacher (b...
1:10 PM
The Distant Beloved: James Newby & Eugene Asti
24 Oct 2017 13:10 | Headington School: The Hall
James Newby, joint winner of last year's Kathleen Ferrier Awards, performs some of Mahler's songs from the 1880s alongside Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, the first true song cycle.
5:30 PM
Mahler & Brahms Piano Quartets: Urioste, Hernandez, van der Heijden, Poster
24 Oct 2017 17:30 | Headington School: The Hall
Mahler’s only chamber work is his single-movement Piano Quartet in A minor, a haunting work that belies the composer’s youth: it was first performed just after Mahler's 16th birthday. It is heard here alongside Brahms’s A major Piano Quartet, a work of uplifting grandeur, performed by three exceptional string players and renowned pianist Tom Poster.
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
24 Oct 2017 18:30 | St Stephen's House
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
8:00 PM
Brahms & Wolf: Ian Bostridge & Julius Drake
Last Few Tickets!
24 Oct 2017 20:00 | Saint John the Evangelist
This duo, whose performances never fail to illuminate and inspire, need little introduction. We are delighted to welcome Ian Bostridge back to the Festival after his memorable 2014 Winterreise. Their programme tonight includes songs by Brahms and Wolf, arch-enemies in the Viennese music scene who would never willingly have appeared in the same concert in their own lifetimes but are perhaps not ...Wednesday 25th October 2017
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day Three
25 Oct 2017 10:00 | Headington School: The Music School
We are thrilled to welcome the world-famous mezzo-soprano Ann Murray to lead this year's residential Mastercourse. Each day the students also work with a renowned guest tutor, and observers are free to move between these fascinating sessions. Ann Murray Britten Room, Headington School 1000 Maria Ladurner (soprano) & Barbara Sattler 1040 Klaudia Tandl (mezzo..._square_md.jpg)
1:10 PM
Across Borders: Ben Johnson & James Baillieu
25 Oct 2017 13:10 | Holywell Music Room
These two superb artists, both stars of the new generation, perform early songs by Mahler and explore contemporaneous developments in English song through Elgar, Parry and others, who fell under many of the same influences while finding their own different and individual voices.
5:30 PM
Spring Sonatas: Sophie Rosa & Sholto Kynoch
25 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
Richard Strauss’s uplifting Violin Sonata in E flat, Op.18, was written in 1887–8, the early years of his romance with his future wife, Pauline. It is coupled with Beethoven’s equally sunny 'Spring' Sonata, played here by prize-winning violinist Sophie Rosa. Watch a video of Sophie Rosa performing Fritz Kreisler with Sholto Kynoch below. [youtube url=https:...
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
25 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Liebeslieder Walzer
25 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
A celebration of Viennese culture would not be complete without some element of dancing! Brahms enjoyed great success during his own lifetime, and his acclaimed two sets of Liebeslieder Walzer ('Love-song Waltzes') have been hugely popular ever since the first of them were heard in 1870. Also included in the programme are the ‘gypsy songs’ of both Brahms and his friend and m...Thursday 26th October 2017
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day Four
26 Oct 2017 10:00 | Headington School: The Music School
We are thrilled to welcome the world-famous mezzo-soprano Ann Murray to lead this year's residential Mastercourse. Each day the students also work with a renowned guest tutor, and observers are free to move between these fascinating sessions. John Mark Ainsley Britten Room, Headington School 1000 Eira Sjaastad Huse (mezzo) & Olga Jørgensen 1040 Wu He...
1:10 PM
Italian Songbook: Alison Rose, Marcus Farnsworth & James Cheung
26 Oct 2017 13:10 | Holywell Music Room
Hugo Wolf’s 46 settings of Italian poetry, translated by Paul Heyse, are among the most perfect gems of the song repertoire, by turn humorous, bitter and tender. Heard as a single songbook, they allow a remarkable dialogue to emerge between the two singers, who inhabit an array of characters. Please note this concert will last approx. 75 minutes without interval.
5:30 PM
Brahms & Schubert duets: Tom Poster & Sholto Kynoch
26 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
A recital of piano duets, featuring Brahms' exuberant Waltzes, Op. 39, a tribute to his adopted city of Vienna, and Schubert's miraculous Variations in A flat, D813.
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
26 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Mahler, Berg, Korngold & Strauss: Angelika Kirchschlager & Julius Drake
Sold Out - Waiting List Only
26 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
World-famous mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager returns to the Festival to perform songs by Gustav and Alma Mahler, Berg (Op.2), Korngold and Strauss. Korngold’s Op.38 songs are among his finest, and include various references to his famed film scores.Friday 27th October 2017
11:30 AM
Revolution in Russia
27 Oct 2017 11:30 | Okinaga Room
100 years on from the Russian Revolution, Philip Ross Bullock leads a study day exploring Russian song, both its general history and in relation to the Revolution. A fascinating opportunity for those who wish to learn more about this rich musical tradition. 11.30am - 12.15pm - Rebecca Mitchell explores the lives of composers, performers and music-lovers in the decades running up to the...
1:10 PM
Russian Romances: Katherine Broderick & Sergey Rybin
27 Oct 2017 13:10 | Holywell Music Room
Katherine Broderick and Sergey Rybin give a programme of passionate Russian song, including works by Mussorgsky, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov and others, as part of our day exploring the Russian Revolution of 1917. This event is part of a day exploring Russian song in the centenary of the Russian Revolution. The schedule for the day is as follows: 11.30am - 12.15pm - Revolution In Russia...
5:30 PM
1917: The Last Flowering: Alexander Karpeyev
27 Oct 2017 17:30 | Holywell Music Room
This thrilling pianist, increasingly noted as an interpreter of the Russian 'Silver Age', performs works by Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and others, written between 1911 and 1917, including Stravinsky's virtuosic arrangement from Petrushka. This event is part of a day exploring Russian song in the centenary of the Russian Revolution. The schedule for the day is as follows: ...
6:30 PM
Festive Supper
27 Oct 2017 18:30 | The Vaults and Garden Café
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Tchaikovsky: Andrei Bondarenko & Gary Matthewman
27 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
As part of our day exploring Russian song and the Russian Revolution, which came to an end 100 years ago almost to the day, we welcome the Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko, winner of the Song Prize at the 2011 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. He performs songs by Rubinstein, Sviridov and Rachmaninov, before a second half comprising only Tchaikovsky songs: almost the Russian equiva...
10:00 PM
Rachmaninov: Ilona Domnich & Sholto Kynoch
27 Oct 2017 22:00 | New College Ante Chapel
The wonderful Russian soprano Ilona Domnich gives a late-night, candle-lit performance of songs by Rachmaninov. Rachmaninov was a prolific song composer, setting texts by numerous authors, but he left Russia on the eve of the Revolution and never wrote another song. This event is part of a day exploring Russian song in the centenary of the Russian Revolution. The schedule for the day i...Saturday 28th October 2017
12:00 PM
Mastercourse Concert
28 Oct 2017 12:00 | Holywell Music Room
At the end of an immersive week of study and preparation, led by Ann Murray with a team of prestigious guest tutors, nine outstanding duos present the fruits of their labours in a delightfully varied programme that is always a Festival highlight. The concert will be in two parts with a one-hour lunch interval
4:30 PM
A German Requiem
28 Oct 2017 16:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
Brahms’s own arrangement of Ein deutsches Requiem, for piano four-hands accompaniment, is performed by one of Oxford’s leading chamber choirs as All Souls’ Day approaches, a recent and extremely popular tradition- in-the-making at the Festival.
6:00 PM
Festive Supper
28 Oct 2017 18:00 | St Stephen's House
A special supper is arranged for Festival-goers that allows time to take in both evening recitals and enjoying a hot meal in a sociable environment in between.
7:30 PM
Wunderhorn Songs: Birgid Steinberger, Stephan Loges, Sholto Kynoch
28 Oct 2017 19:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
Mahler’s mature settings of the folk poetry of Des Knaben Wunderhorn are among his great achievements and are a wonderfully varied and inspiring way to conclude this year’s Festival. Oxford Lieder’s Artistic Director Sholto Kynoch is joined by sensational soprano Birgid Steinberger and renowned baritone Stephan Loges, both well known to Oxford Lieder audiences, for a complete ...