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Past Events > 2017

Opening Night: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Kemp, Alder, Spence, Henschel

13 October 2017, 19:30 - 21:30

Concert

Evening

Thumbnail of The Sheldonian Theatre

The Sheldonian Theatre

Broad Street
Oxford, OX1 3AZ

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, created for salon-style performances. A renowned Mahlerian, baritone Dietrich Henschel begins the concert with Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (‘Songs of a Wayfarer), Mahler's moving settings of his own texts. After this, star soprano Louise Alder performs a selection of Strauss’ best-known songs in newly-uncovered arrangements that were originally intended for the cinemaand silent movies (and the OAE will be back two days later for a live performance of Strauss' own score for the film of Der Rosenkavalier).

The second half of the concert features Mahler’s epic ‘song symphony’ Das Lied von der Erde (‘The Song of the Earth’), with Dietrich Henschel and world-renowned tenor Toby Spence. This transcendental masterpiece, written in a time of great turmoil for Mahler, sets ancient Chinese poetry in German translation, exploring profound themes of life and death.

These glittering orchestrations of Mahler were made by Arnold Schoenberg, to allow performances in salon-type settings, and they bring a new level of intimacy to the works and cast them in a new light: revelatory and refreshing to those who already know them well, and enticing to those who are coming to them for the first time.

This concert is presented in association with Music at Oxford, who present prestigious orchestras, ensembles and soloists throughout the year. For details of their season see www.musicatoxford.com.

Members of the Schubert Circle and the Friends of Oxford Lieder enjoy a special reception after this evening's concert. To find out more about this, as well as the other benefits of being an Oxford Lieder supporter and the vital contribution this support makes, please click here.

View Programme
Artist Portrait

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Ensemble

Three decades ago, a group of inquisitive London musicians took a long hard look at that curious institution we call the Orchestra, and decided to start again from scratch. They began by throwing out the rulebook. Put a single conductor in charge? No way. Specialise in repertoire of a particular era? Too restricting. Perfect a work and then move on? Too lazy. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born. And as this distinctive ensemble playing on period-specific instruments began to get a foothold, it made a promise to itself. It vowe... Read Full Biography
Artist Portrait

Thomas Kemp

Thomas Kemp

Conductor

Thomas Kemp is a highly acclaimed musician and one of the most versatile and eclectic conductors of his generation, acclaimed for his innovative programming and passionate advocacy in concerts, opera, ballet and as an award winning recording artist. The Guardian recently commented “...an extraordinary performance... with a fluency that came over brilliantly under the baton of Thomas Kemp.” Thomas is the Music Director of the internationally acclaimed ensemble Chamber Domaine, which is at the forefront of ensembles focusing on ... Read Full Biography
Artist Portrait

Louise Alder

Louise Alder

Soprano

Louise Alder studied at the Royal College of Music’s International Opera School where she was the inaugural Kiri Te Kanawa Scholar. She won the Young Singer Award at the 2017 International Opera Awards and the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the 2017 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. She also won the 2015 inaugural Young British Soloists’ Competition, is the recipient of Glyndebourne's 2014 John Christie Award. She is a member of Oper Frankfurt’s Ensemble where her roles in the 2018/19 season inclu... Read Full Biography
Artist Portrait

Toby Spence

Toby Spence

Tenor

An honours graduate and choral scholar from New College, Oxford, Toby Spence studied at the Opera School of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was the winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society 2011 Singer of the Year award. In concert Toby has sung with the Cleveland Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi, Berliner Philharmoniker and the Wiener Philharmoniker under Simon Rattle; San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas; the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano; Rotterdam Philharmonic under Valery Ge... Read Full Biography
Artist Portrait

Dietrich Henschel

Dietrich Henschel

Baritone

German Baritone Dietrich Henschel’s repertoire extends from the beginning of baroque opera to modern day avant-garde. He debuted at the Biennale für modernes Musiktheater in Munich with the title role in Michaels Reverdy´s opera Le Precepteur. In his first and only permanent engagement, at the opera in Kiel, he performed classics such as Papageno, the Count in Nozze de Figaro, Pelleas in Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande, Monteverdi´s Orfeo and Henze´s Prinz von Homburg. Henschel´s international career b... Read Full Biography
View Programme

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This event is part of a series:

The Last of the Romantics - Mahler and fin-de-siècle Vienna

13 October 2017, 09:00 - 28 October 2017, 22:00

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 - ...