Friday 20th October
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
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: Sylvia Schwartz & Malcolm Martineau
Sold Out - Waiting List Only
21 Oct 2017 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
The dazzling soprano Sylvia Schwartz returns to the Festival to perform Mahler’s five settings of Rückert: an extraordinary meeting of words and music. The programme also includes songs by Reger and Strauss.
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
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.
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 Cafe
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
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
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
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...
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 Cafe
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
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 Cafe
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
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 Cafe
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
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 ...