Mahler: A life in Song Part II
21 October 2017, 11:00 - 15:00
Talk
This event will be broadcast from 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-recital part one
12.45pm A light lunch is available and must be pre-booked (£7)
1.30pm Lecture-recital part two

Marta Fontanals-Simmons
Marta Fontanals-Simmons
Mezzo-soprano
Praised for her “warm mezzo” (The Telegraph) and “velvet-voice” (Daily Telegraph), British-Spanish mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons recently made critically acclaimed house and role debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Siébel in David McVicar's production of Faust and as Hel in the world premiere of Gavin Higgins The Monstrous Child at the Linbury Theatre. Upcoming highlights in the 2019/20 season include her house and role debut at English National Opera as Eurydice Woman in Daniel Kr... Read Full Biography%20resized_square_md.jpg)
Benedict Nelson
Benedict Nelson
Baritone
Highlights of the 2017/18 season include Donnacha Dennehy’s acclaimed The Second Violinist for Wide Open Opera, title role in Monteverdi Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria on tour in the United States with Circa Contemporary Circus, and Henry Cuffe in Britten Gloriana for Teatro Real. In concert he will sing Orff Carmina Burana with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King with the Aurora Orchestra, and recitals at the Oxford Lieder Festival. Recent operatic highlights include the title ... Read Full Biography
Simon Lepper
Simon Lepper
Pianist
Simon read music at King’s College, Cambridge before studying piano accompaniment with Michael Dussek at the Royal Academy of Music and later with Ruben Lifschitz at the Fondation Royaumont. He is a currently professor of collaborative piano and a vocal repertoire coach at the Royal College of Music, London where he also in charge of the collaboarative piano course. Since 2003 he has been an official accompanist for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition Performance highlights have included an invitation from the Wigmor... Read Full Biography
Gavin Plumley
Gavin Plumley
Speaker
Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster specializing in the music and culture of Central Europe. He read music at Keble College, Oxford and began his career in the publications and press departments at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. After working for several years as a theatrical and literary agent, Gavin decided to pursue a freelance career in 2011. He has written features and programme notes for the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls and music festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, for which he has been comm... Read Full BiographyFestival Passes
This event is part of a series:
The Last of the Romantics - Mahler and fin-de-siècle Vienna
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 - ...