Oxford International Song Festival 2024: Cities of Song

EXPLORE

SOME STRANDS OF THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL

SCHUBERT’S VIENNA

A dazzling weekend of events dedicated to Franz Schubert. Schubertian mastermind Graham Johnson continues his annual 200-years-on survey of the composer; Katy Hamilton explores Schubert’s Vienna; there are performances of Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise; and artists include Schubert & Co., Stephan Loges, Christian Immler, Sophie Karthäuser, the Castalian String Quartet, Hiroshi Amako and Christopher Maltman.

EVENTS 34, 36-39, 41–44

ANNIVERSARIES

This year we also mark the centenary of the death of Gabriel Fauré, a quiet revolutionary and a seminal figure in the evolution of French mélodie, with performances by pre-eminent French baritone Stéphane Degout and star tenor Nicky Spence. Other revolutionary figures include Arnold Schoenberg (150 this year), and Lord Byron 200 years after his death, who coincide in Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, an arresting war-time setting of Byron.

EVENTS 30-33, 35, 48, 70

KAFKA’S PRAGUE

It is the centenary year of Franz Kafka’s death, and the iconic Czech author will be celebrated across the year in Oxford, including through a major exhibition in the Bodleian Libraries. A special guided tour of that exhibition is one of a number of Festival events exploring Kafka, his native city Prague, and his links to the music world, including the world premiere of a new work by Can Bilir and a special performance of György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments.

EVENTS 6, 11, 15, 16

NEW MUSIC

Our Song Futures programme continues to thrive. Can Bilir’s new Kafka-inspired work is co-commissioned with the Bodleian Libraries’ Albi Rosenthal Visiting Fellowship. We are also thrilled to be commissioning a new work by the Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, setting texts from the Bhagavad Gita. Many other living composers feature in the programme, including Emily Hazrati and Jennifer Walshe.

EVENTS 16, 18, 19, 31, 53

WELCOME

Artistic Director

Natalie Burch Associate Artistic Director 2024

Welcome to the 23rd Oxford International Song Festival. A thrilling fortnight of song awaits, packed with 70 events and an array of world-class musicians.

Within our broad theme of the cities that inspired and influenced composers, you can hear everything from the great song cycles of Schubert and Schumann to Baroque lute songs to contemporary works hot off the press. The rich programme of songs is complemented by some exceptional chamber music and choral performances.

There are hundreds of tickets available for £13 or less and the Festival is truly open to all. You may just choose a couple of favourite events, but I always say that the best way to experience the Festival is by immersion: if you can, take a day or two (or 16!) and come to everything.

Special thanks as always to our amazing family of supporters, who keep the Festival thriving and enable our vital work with young artists and in local schools. It is thanks to so many generous individuals, alongside numerous Trusts and Foundations, that Oxford is now an international hub for song.

Thank you also to this year’s Associate Artistic Director, pianist Natalie Burch. Natalie has curated a large part of this year’s programme and developed our ‘Cities of Song’ theme, allowing me to forge ahead with planning future seasons, right through to the 2028 Schubert bicentenary and beyond.

Whether you’re returning to us or exploring for the first time, I hope you’ll find much that inspires. The Festival fortnight is my favourite part of the year: musically thrilling, sociable and uplifting. I look forward to welcoming you in person.

SUPPORT US

Please consider supporting our work, from £5 per month or with a one-off donation. See p38 for details.

FESTIVAL PASSES

Immerse yourself in song with a Festival Pass, which also offers value and convenience. See p40 for details.

SONG BUS

Using the Park & Ride to visit Oxford? See p40 for details of our shared minicab scheme at the end of evening concerts.

Sholto Kynoch

WATCH OUT FOR...

RODERICK WILLIAMS

11 OCT (p7)

SARAH WEGENER

13 OCT (p11)

CHRISTOPH PRÉGARDIEN

14 OCT (p13)

CHRISTIAN GERHAHER

16 OCT (p17)

CAROLYN SAMPSON

12 OCT (p9)

DAME SARAH CONNOLLY

13 OCT (p11)

JESS DANDY

15 OCT (p15)

ELIZABETH WATTS

17 OCT (pp18 & 19)

CLAIRE BOOTH

12 OCT & 18 OCT (pp9 & 21)

HOLGER FALK

14 OCT (p12)

ED LYON

16 OCT (p16)

DIETRICH HENSCHEL

18 OCT (p20)

SOME OF THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED SINGERS APPEARING AT THIS YEAR ’S FESTIVAL

HELEN

CITIES OF SONG

FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER

A spectacular start to the Festival! An exploration of Haydn’s triumphant visits to England and his sojourn in Oxford, where he collected an honorary doctorate, followed by the peerless Roderick Williams singing Schubert’s miraculous final songs.

1 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

HAYDN IN OXFORD

1pm–2pm

Holywell Music Room

Doric String Quartet

Angharad Rowlands mezzo-soprano

Sholto Kynoch piano

£20

DORIC STRING QUARTET ANGHARAD ROWLANDS

The Holywell Music Room has been host to performances of Haydn’s works since the early 1770s when the venue played an important part in popularising his music. Today we are transported back to the 18th century with sparkling performances of Haydn’s songs and chamber music. The Doric String Quartet, whose Haydn has been described as ‘one marvellous utterance followed by another’ (The Sunday Times), plays the Quartet, Op.20 No.4, while former Oxford Song Young Artist Angharad Rowlands and our Artistic Director Sholto Kynoch perform some of Haydn’s English songs.

Events at Holywell Music Room are presented in partnership with Wadham College.

2 SONG CONNECTIONS HAYDN’S ENGLISH ADVENTURES

3.30pm–4.30pm

Holywell Music Room

Richard Wigmore speaker

£8

Shortly before Haydn’s departure for England in 1790, Mozart told him: ‘You have too little experience of the great world, and you speak too few languages’. Yet the move was to be the most fruitful and exhilarating of Haydn’s life. He received his doctorate in Oxford in 1791, and almost certainly performed in the Holywell Music Room. Writer and broadcaster Richard Wigmore, author of the Faber Pocket Guide to Haydn, brings to life the composer’s time in England and in this great city.

Doric Quartet © Camilla Greenwell

Williams © Theo Williams

Rowlands

Julian Guidera

‘ ... OUR GREATEST LIVING BARITONE ’

The Daily Telegraph

3 OPENING NIGHT CONCERT LOVE’S MESSENGER

7.30pm–9pm

The Olivier Hall, St Edward’s School £13 / £22 / £34 / £45

Roderick Williams baritone

Natalie Burch piano

Franz Schubert Schwanengesang

Generously supported by Bernard & Sarah Taylor

For the first evening recital of 2024, we are delighted to welcome the ever-brilliant baritone Roderick Williams, a ‘raconteur in Lied par excellence’ (Seen and Heard International). He is joined by esteemed pianist Natalie Burch, who is also our Associate Artistic Director this year. Together they perform Schubert’s Schwanengesang (‘Swan Song’), the composer’s final collection of songs. Written in 1828 and published just

months after his death, these songs show the composer reaching a new pinnacle in the art form, and leave us wondering what miracles he might have achieved had he lived beyond the age of 31. A thrilling night of music, poetry and artistry to open the Festival.

EMERGING ARTISTS

At the start of this evening’s concert, and almost all evenings in the first week of the Festival, one of our eight exceptional Young Artist duos will give a 15-minute showcase performance. These emerging professionals are the stars of the future, and can also be heard during the Mastercourse later in the Festival (see p26). Full details will be announced online.

SUPPORTERS’ RECEPTIONS

Members of our Schubert Circle and Friends of Oxford Song enjoy special receptions before and after this evening’s concert. To find out more about the benefits of being an Oxford Song supporter and the vital contribution this makes, see pages 38 & 39.

NATALIE BURCH

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER

Leipzig and Berlin were two of the great hubs of music-making in the 19th century, and Natasha Loges unpicks what drew composers to them from all over Europe. Robert and Clara Schumann, prominent characters in Leipzig, are also the focus of the evening concert, with a welcome return from soprano Carolyn Sampson. The day concludes with the first of our Kafka anniversary celebrations.

NATASHA LOGES

STEPHAN LOGES

4

SONG CONNECTIONS

A TALE OF TWO CITIES: LEIPZIG & BERLIN

11.30am–12.45pm & 2pm–3.15pm £20 Holywell Music Room

Stephan Loges bass-baritone Joanna Kacperek piano Natasha Loges speaker

Natasha Loges, Professor at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and always one of our most popular speakers, leads this fascinating event exploring two of the great European hubs of 19th-century music. Robert and Clara Schumann in Leipzig, and Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn in Berlin were the best-known musicians among the many who passed through these two cities, where all manner of musical and poetic connections were made and where song reached its Romantic heights. Renowned baritone Stephan Loges performs some of the remarkable songs that sprang forth from these cultural melting pots.

JOSEPH MIDDLETON

‘ ... FRESHNESS OF TONE, SUPERB CONTROL AND SUBTLE SENSUALITY. ’

The

5 EVENING CONCERT

ALBUM FÜR DIE FRAU

7pm–9pm

Holywell Music Room

Carolyn Sampson soprano

Joseph Middleton piano

Robert Schumann Frauenliebe und -leben

Clara Schumann selected songs

Generously supported by Stephen Page & Anthea Morland

£34

6 LATE-NIGHT CONCERT

KAFKA FRAGMENTS

9.45pm–10.45pm

New College Chapel

Claire Booth soprano

Tamsin Waley-Cohen violin

£18

Carolyn Sampson, one of today’s most sought-after sopranos, and pianist Joseph Middleton present a brilliantly conceived look at the lives of Robert and Clara Schumann, taking Robert’s cycle Frauenliebe und -leben and interspersing it with songs and solo piano pieces by Clara. These eight ‘scenes’ poignantly remind us of the highs and lows of this extraordinary couple and their complex relationship.

György Kurtág is one of the most important composers of our time, and his Kafka Fragments of 1985–87 is a truly iconic 20thcentury work. Kurtág described himself creating this cycle of 40 songs, many of which are just 30 seconds long, as hooked, ‘like a little boy nibbling at forbidden sweets’. To hear this astonishing work for voice and violin, we could not hope for two better exponents than Claire Booth and Tamsin Waley-Cohen, nor a more atmospheric setting than the candle-lit 15th-century chapel of New College.

Guardian

CLAIRE BOOTH

TAMSIN WALEY-COHEN

CAROLYN SAMPSON

ESCAPING THE CITY

SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER

Wander the gardens of Worcester College, and enjoy retreating to a musical idyll during a day that reflects on the importance of the natural world. Lute songs, the return of an astonishing duo, and the inimitable Dame Sarah Connolly make for an irresistible day.

JAMES WAY

7 SONG CONNECTIONS SONGPATH

10.30am–12.15pm

Worcester College Gardens

£18

SongPath’s outdoor interactive events unite musicians, experts on the natural world and mental health professionals as they unearth a wealth of nourishing connections to the world around us. This year’s walk opens the doors to Worcester College’s 26 acres of beautiful gardens, centred around the stunning lake, including rare access to the Provost’s Garden. Singers and SongPath co-founders Jess Dandy and Joanna Harries will be joined by guest musicians and speakers, including the College’s Head Gardener Simon Bagnall, as they explore the connective power of walking, talking and music-making together.

WORCESTER COLLEGE

8 LUNCHTIME CONCERT ARCADIA

8a 11.15am–12.15pm

8b 1.30pm–2.30pm (second performance)

Worcester College Chapel

£18

James Way tenor

Elizabeth Kenny lute

In the magical setting of Worcester College Chapel, a star duo transport us to the beautiful sound world of French and English lute songs, including works by Dowland and Morley, Charpentier and Lambert, and continuing today’s theme of the importance of nature and the countryside. In this glorious music, we often encounter the courtiers of Paris and London singing about shepherds and shepherdesses, whose stories hold up a mirror to the triumphs and disappointments of their own lives.

Due to the limited capacity of Worcester College Chapel, there will be two performances of this concert. If you are attending SongPath in the morning, please select tickets for the 1.30pm performance.

We are delighted to work with Worcester College as our partner college this year. All events at Worcester today and across the Festival are presented in association with the College, with thanks to the Provost and Fellows.

Sarah Connolly

Andrew Crowley

‘

... AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE MAHLER RECITAL. SARAH CONNOLLY IS PERFECTLY ATTUNED TO MAHLER ’ S MUSIC. ’

MusicWeb International

10 EVENING CONCERT RÜCKERT LIEDER

7pm–8.45pm / St John the Evangelist £11 / £22 / £34 / £45

9 AFTERNOON CONCERT LONGING FOR NATURE

4pm–5pm

Holywell Music Room

Sarah Wegener soprano

Götz Payer piano

£20

Sarah Wegener and Götz Payer gave a sensational recital of Strauss songs at the 2022 Festival, unforgettable for all those lucky enough to attend. We are thrilled to welcome them back for this beautifully curated programme. From the bliss of the forest expressed in music by Schumann, Alma Mahler and Max Reger, to the beauty of the night in Strauss’s ‘Die Nacht’ and the allure of the sea in songs by Rebecca Clarke and Alban Berg, the central theme is a profound yearning for contact with the natural world.

Dame Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano Joseph Middleton piano

Mahler Rückert Lieder

Debussy Chansons de Bilitis

Generously supported by Sir Martin & Lady Elise Smith

Dame Sarah Connolly’s recitals are an annual highlight of the Festival. She and Joseph Middleton perform the extraordinary Rückert Lieder, written by Mahler in the first two summers of the 20th century, while he was staying at his rural lakeside retreat in Maiernigg: immersed in nature and escaping the frantic pace of Vienna. Their programme also includes songs by Brahms, Debussy’s scandalous Chansons de Bilitis, and a selection of pastoral English songs by Bridge, Moeran, Gurney and Ireland.

SARAH WEGENER

DAME SARAH CONNOLLY

MONDAY 14 OCTOBER

Renowned baritone Holger Falk appears at the Festival for the first time, with a visceral work written in exile; we explore composers displaced and making their homes in new cities; and we welcome back tenor Christoph Prégardien for an uplifting evening of Schubert and Schumann.

HOLGER FALK

JULIUS DRAKE

11 EXHIBITION TOUR

KAFKA: MAKING OF AN ICON

10.30am, 11.15am, 12pm FREE

ST Lee Gallery, Weston Library

Led by Carolin Duttlinger

Presented in association with the Bodleian Libraries and the Oxford Kafka Research Centre

Ahead of tomorrow’s Festival events marking the centenary of the death of Franz Kafka, we are delighted to offer the opportunity for a guided tour of the Bodleian Libraries’ exhibition Kafka: Making of an Icon, with Carolin Duttlinger, co-curator of the exhibition and co-director of the Oxford-wide Kafka celebrations, Kafka’s Transformative Communities. See events 6, 15 and 16.

12 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

HOLLYWOOD SONGBOOK

1pm–2pm £20

Holywell Music Room

Holger Falk baritone Julius Drake piano

Hanns Eisler Hollywood Songbook

This is a rare opportunity to hear Hanns Eisler’s astonishing Hollywood Songbook, performed by the ‘irresistible’ (The Arts Desk)

Holger Falk, and Festival favourite Julius Drake. This epic song cycle was started in a Hollywood hotel in 1942 and saw the composer collaborate closely with fellow émigré Bertolt Brecht. The result is a searing and still relevant commentary on inequality, war and enforced immigration, set against the seemingly beautiful backdrop of Los Angeles. Not to be missed.

Holger Falk © Kaupo Kikkas | Katy Thomson © John Hersey

Christoph Prégardien, Julius Drake © Marco Borggreve

KATY THOMSON

13 SONG CONNECTIONS

THE LANDSCAPE OF EXILE

3pm–5pm £14 incl. tea/coffee

The Oakeshott Room, Lincoln College

Katy Hamilton speaker

Katy Thomson soprano

Rustam Khanmurzin piano

Composers fleeing risk and persecution have often had mixed emotions about their adopted cities. Schoenberg and Korngold thrived in the US but yearned for Vienna. Rachmaninov made his fortune there but never felt settled. Closer to home, Egon Wellesz arrived in the UK in 1938, and eventually settled in Oxford, as a fellow of Lincoln College, where this afternoon’s event takes place, overlooked by his portrait. Katy Hamilton explores what exile meant to this wide range of composers in a talk illustrated by performances from former Oxford Song Young Artists Katy Thomson and Rustam Khanmurzin.

ʻ PRÉGARDIEN ’ S INTELLIGENCE AS AN INTERPRETER IS AS SHARPLY FOCUSED AS EVER, WITH THE ABILITY TO MAKE HIS AUDIENCE HANG ON EVERY WORD, TOTALLY IMMERSED IN THE WORLDS HE EVOKES. ʼ

The Guardian, July 2023

14 EVENING CONCERT

SCHUBERT AND SCHUMANN

7pm–9pm / St John the Evangelist

£11 / £22 / £34 / £45

Christoph Prégardien tenor

Sholto Kynoch piano

Schumann Liederkreis, Op.39

Schubert settings of Goethe and Mayrhofer

Generously supported by

Charles Alexander & Kasia Starega

The great tenor Christoph Prégardien makes a welcome return to the Festival, joined by our Artistic Director Sholto Kynoch. Their programme revolves around Schumann’s Liederkreis, an extraordinary cycle setting the evocative, nature-inspired poetry of Joseph von Eichendorff. They also include Schubert’s settings of his close friend Johann Mayrhofer, as well as the composer’s ‘Harper’ songs from Goethe’s novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre

PRAGUE TO PARADISE

TUESDAY 15 OCTOBER

In the centenary year of Franz Kafka’s death, our celebration of this iconic author continues with an insightful talk and a concert including a world premiere. The rest of the day focuses on a seminal Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita, with a concert that brings together Indian and Western philosophies and includes a newly commissioned work by Reena Esmail.

15 SONG CONNECTIONS

KAFKA’S PRAGUE

10.45am–12pm

Weston Library Lecture Theatre

Carolin Duttlinger speaker

Philip Ross Bullock speaker

Can Bilir speaker

£10

16 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

DEATH AND PARADISE

1pm–2pm

Holywell Music Room

Mimi Doulton soprano

Dylan Perez piano

£16

Presented in association with the Bodleian Libraries and the Oxford Kafka Research Centre

2024 marks the centenary of the death of Franz Kafka and across Oxford the anniversary will be celebrated in a wideranging series of cultural and academic events entitled Kafka’s Transformative Communities. Carolin Duttlinger is a leading expert on Kafka and co-director of this series, and she joins Philip Ross Bullock to explore Kafka’s Prague – an important hub for music and poetry – and the author’s connections to the music world, not least through his friend and publisher Max Brod. Towards the end of this session, Carolin and Philip will be joined by the composer Can Bilir to discuss his new Kafka-inspired work, which will be premiered in the lunchtime concert.

Presented in association with the Bodleian Libraries and the Oxford Kafka Research Centre

Franz Kafka had a strong link to the music world through his friend Max Brod. Brod was responsible in large part for the wider dissemination of the works of Janáček and Smetana, authored an important study of Mahler, and was a composer himself. Rising-star soprano Mimi Doulton and pianist Dylan Perez explore this melting pot of musical influences, with songs by all four of these composers as well as Antonín Dvořák and Vítězslava Kaprálová. They also give the world premiere of a new Kafkainspired work by Can Bilir, Silent Songs of Josefine, commissioned by Oxford Song in collaboration with the Albi Rosenthal Visiting Fellowship at the Bodleian Libraries.

17 SONG CONNECTIONS

THE BHAGAVAD GITA

2.45pm–3.45pm

Weston Library Lecture Theatre

Diwakar Acharya speaker

Gillian Evison speaker

Presented in association with the Bodleian Libraries

£8

Ahead of tonight’s concert, we head to the Bodleian for an exploration of the Bhagavad Gita, a seminal Hindu scripture, with an introduction and recitations from the text by Diwakar Acharya, Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at All Souls College. Dr Gillian Evison, Keeper of Asian and Middle Eastern Collections at the Bodleian Libraries, shows and introduces several important manuscripts.

18 SONG CONNECTIONS

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION

4.15pm–4.45pm FREE

Weston Library Lecture Theatre

Jess Dandy, Reena Esmail and Keval Shah

Jess Dandy and Keval Shah discuss the multi-layered creative process behind tonight’s world premiere, joined by the composer of this exciting new work, Reena Esmail. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from our artists: how they prepare, what inspires them, and why this particular project is so important for them.

19 EVENING CONCERT ETERNITY IN AN HOUR

6.30pm–8pm

Holywell Music Room

Jess Dandy contralto Keval Shah piano

£28

‘What is here may be found elsewhere; what is not here is nowhere at all.’

Indian and Western philosophies converse in tonight’s recital, in a fusion of cultures, perspectives and soundscapes. Commissioned for this year’s Festival, IndianAmerican composer Reena Esmail’s settings of Sanskrit verses from the Bhagavad Gita draw out the essence of Vedantic thought, and are interspersed with music from the canon of Lied repertoire, highlighting the ways in which Western and Eastern philosophies converge and diverge. Two outstanding artists join forces for this unique reimagining of India’s most celebrated and influential scripture, and its fascinating relationship with European poetry and music.

20 LATE EVENING CONCERT SITAR & TABLA

8:45pm–9.45pm

Holywell Music Room

Jasdeep Singh Degun sitar Sanju Sahai tabla

£20

Sitar player Jasdeep Singh Degun recently became the first Indian Classical musician to win the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumental Award. The RPS judges said that ‘Rainbows of sound burst from his instrument in the dazzling collaborations of his debut album ... He excels on so many remarkable levels.’ Jasdeep’s lifelong training has been in gayaki ang, a lyrical approach to the sitar that mimics the human voice. Tonight he is joined by world-renowned tabla player Sanju Sahai for a programme of intimate duets and masterful improvisations rooted in many years of Indian tradition.

JASDEEP SINGH DEGUN

VIENNESE FIN DE SIÈCLE

WEDNESDAY 16 OCTOBER

An epic Mahler song cycle is heard in its more intimate version for piano and voices; we explore Vienna at the end of the 19th century as a global melting pot for the arts; Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective make a thrilling appearance; and there’s the muchanticipated return of Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber.

DIANA MOORE

21 SONG CONNECTIONS COMPOSITION WORKSHOP

10am–12.15pm FREE

Clore Studios, Mansfield Road

Presented in association with the Faculty of Music, University of Oxford

Six talented student composers hear their songs performed by Oxford Song Young Artists in a workshop setting. Feedback from the performers and from Professor Martyn Harry offers a fascinating glimpse into the creative process.

22 LUNCHTIME CONCERT SONG OF THE EARTH

1pm–2pm

Holywell Music Room

Diana Moore mezzo-soprano

Ed Lyon tenor

John Reid piano

Mahler Das Lied von der Erde

£20

Shortly before embarking on Das Lied von Der Erde, following the death of his daughter Maria, Mahler wrote, ‘I have lost any calm and peace of mind that I have ever achieved. I stand face to face with nothingness, and now, at the end of my life, have to learn again to walk and stand.’ To guide us through Mahler’s exquisite confrontation with death, in the composer’s own version for piano, we are delighted to welcome Ed Lyon (‘forthright, handsome in tone and presence’ The Guardian), Diana Moore (‘a singer to cherish, with a genuine contralto tone not often heard outside recordings of Ferrier or Janet Baker’ The Times) and John Reid (‘a whole wealth of orchestral colour on his own’ Bachtrack).

23 SONG CONNECTIONS THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY

3pm–4pm

The New Space, Mansfield Road

Philip Ross Bullock speaker

£12

‘Here, all the streams of Europe converged.’ In this illustrated lecture-recital, Philip Ross Bullock takes inspiration from Stefan Zweig’s memoir, The World of Yesterday, to trace the many languages and cultures that made up turn-of-the-century Vienna. As the capital of the Hapsburg Empire, Vienna was home to publishing houses that issued translations from a wide range of languages and cultures, as well as musicians who spoke – and sang – languages as diverse as Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Romanian and Yiddish. Their tale is as central to Vienna’s cultural identity as that of its German-speakers.

Diana Moore © Theresa Pewal

Gerold Huber © Marion Koell

Christian Gerhaher © Gregor Hohenberg

24 RUSH-HOUR CONCERT

KALEIDOSCOPE

5.15pm–6.15pm

Holywell Music Room

Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective

Carlos Ferreira clarinet

Elena Urioste violin

Savitri Grier violin

Rosalind Ventris viola

Laura van der Heijden cello

Tom Poster piano

Dora Pejačević Piano Quartet in D minor, Op.25

Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Op.115

Presented in association with the Cultural Programme

‘

The New York Times

25 EVENING CONCERT

GERHAHER AND HUBER

£20

7.30pm–9.30pm £13 / £24 / £34 / £48

Sheldonian Theatre

Christian Gerhaher baritone

Gerold Huber piano

Johannes Brahms Lieder und Gesänge, Op.32 ‘Regenlied’-Zyklus, Op.59 and other selected songs

Presented in association with the Cultural Programme

Generously supported by Ian & Caroline Laing

Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective is one of today’s most exciting ensembles. They are resident ensemble of the Cultural Programme, part of the Humanities Division at the University of Oxford. In today’s concert, they perform Brahms’ soaring Clarinet Quintet alongside a thrilling late-Romantic piano quartet written by the little-known but prodigiously gifted Croatian composer Dora Pejačević.

Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber have been inspiring audiences for nearly 30 years and are widely regarded as one of today’s foremost song duos, their recitals drawing rapturous audiences around the world. ‘There is some intimacy of partnership here between the two ... the sense is of a deliverer of the poems who sings them in his own surroundings, performing to an interceptive audience or to an inner self’ (The Classic Review). Tonight, they perform a programme devoted entirely to the songs of Johannes Brahms, whose gift for melody and keen literary empathy kept song at the forefront of his creativity throughout his long and celebrated career.

THURSDAY 17 OCTOBER

26

THE WANDERER

11am–12pm

Holywell Music Room

James Newby bass-baritone

Natalie Burch piano

£18

James Newby was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2018 to 2020, and has been described by The Times as ‘a master of Lieder’ with ‘a wonderfully mellifluous tone which he can deploy in a confessional whisper or an anguished cry.’ Today he is joined by our 2024 Associate Artistic Director, Natalie Burch, for a continental journey: an eclectic programme that wanders around Europe with music by Schubert, Liszt, Ravel, Grieg and others.

This year marks 25 years of BBC Radio 3’s pioneering New Generation Artists scheme, which supports outstanding emerging artists to reach the next stage of their careers and introduces them to a wider audience through Radio 3 broadcasts. We celebrate this with four concerts featuring former and current NGAs, all recorded for broadcast and introduced by Ian Skelly.

DAY TICKET

Enjoy a full day of outstanding music for just £75, and save £11.

27

NIGHT AND DREAMS

1.15pm–2.15pm

Holywell Music Room

Elizabeth Watts soprano

Michael Pandya piano

£18

Elizabeth Watts was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2007 to 2009, and has since become one of the UK’s best-loved sopranos. She is joined by current NGA Michael Pandya, only the second collaborative pianist ever to join the scheme. They have devised a wonderful programme of songs by Schubert (including his entrancing ‘Nacht und Träume’) and Richard Strauss, as well as music by the increasingly admired Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová and folksong arrangements by Britten.

IAN SKELLY

Chaos String Quartet © Daniel Delang | Elizabeth Watts © Marco Borggreve | James Newby © Gerard Collett

JAMES NEWBY ELIZABETH WATTS

28

UN VIAGGIO ITALIANO

5.15pm–6.15pm

Holywell Music Room

Chaos String Quartet

29

LIEBESLIEDER WALZER

£18

A current New Generation Artist, the Chaos String Quartet is rapidly establishing itself as an exciting presence on the international music scene. Its programme celebrates song and dance in a fascinating selection of Italian chamber works, ranging from the Baroque, with Barbara Strozzi’s vocal serenata Silentio nocivo arranged for string quartet, to the present day, with Diego Conti’s Une étoile dansante, dedicated to the Chaos Quartet. Also included are works by Marco Uccellini and Giuseppe Verdi.

8pm–9.30pm

Holywell Music Room

Elizabeth Watts soprano

Kathryn Rudge mezzo-soprano

Ben Johnson tenor

James Atkinson baritone

Sholto Kynoch piano

Michael Pandya piano

£32

This concert reflects the success of a stellar trio of former New Generation Artists, as well as showcasing current members James Atkinson and Michael Pandya. Oxford Song’s Artistic Director Sholto Kynoch joins the party in a programme that takes a whirlwind tour of dance-inspired songs by composers from Robert and Clara Schumann to Witold Lutosławski, before concluding with Brahms’s exuberant Liebeslieder Walzer.

FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER

Today celebrates two revolutionary figures in their anniversary years: Lord Byron features in a talk and lunchtime concert with new music by Emily Hazrati, while two concerts explore the groundbreaking music of Arnold Schoenberg. An exuberant Schubertiade is the ideal prelude to our Schubert Weekend.

30 SONG CONNECTIONS REVOLUTION IN WORDS

11am–12pm

Levine Building, Trinity College

Fiona Stafford speaker

£8

32 SONG CONNECTIONS REVOLUTION IN MUSIC

3pm–4pm

Levine Building, Trinity College

Jonathan Cross speaker

£8

Lord Byron was a revolutionary figure in the history of English literature and European politics. This year marks the bicentenary of his untimely death in Greece, where he had gone to fight for Greek independence from the Ottoman empire. Fiona Stafford – Professor of English at Somerville College, whose Everyman selection, Byron’s Travels, was published earlier this year – introduces this most compelling poet, song-writer, socialite, solitary, lover, friend, rebel, cosmopolitan, and copious correspondent.

31 LUNCHTIME CONCERT BYRON AND DON JUAN

1pm–2pm

Holywell Music Room

Ella Taylor soprano

Jocelyn Freeman piano

£16

Ahead of this evening’s concerts, Jonathan Cross, Professor of Music at Christ Church, introduces Arnold Schoenberg and the contradictions that surround him: a revolutionary figure steeped in tradition, a rule breaker and a rule maker, whose music can be challenging but is often surprisingly beautiful. This is an ideal introduction for anyone who doesn’t yet know what all the fuss is about!

33 RUSH-HOUR CONCERT ODE TO NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE

5.15pm–6.15pm

The Levine Building, Trinity College

Ensemble 360

Dietrich Henschel baritone

£20

Ella Taylor and Jocelyn Freeman have curated a brilliantly conceived programme, focused on and inspired by Lord Byron’s Don Juan. Within this, they include new songs by the emerging star composer Emily Hazrati, with texts by Joseph Spence written in a response to Don Juan that is both humorous and poignant. They also perform songs by Robert Schumann and Samuel Barber.

The Brahms Piano Quintet is one of the great masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire, and we are thrilled to welcome Ensemble 360, one of the country’s top ensembles, to perform it for us this evening. They are joined by the great German baritone Dietrich Henschel for a rare performance of Schoenberg’s riveting Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, which was composed in the US in 1942 and whose text by Byron was chosen for its theme of struggle against tyranny and oppression.

Katy Thomson

John Hersey

34 EVENING CONCERT

A SCHUBERTIADE

7.30pm–9pm £34

Holywell

Music Room

Schubert & Co.

Harriet Burns soprano

Katy Thomson soprano

Katie Bray mezzo-soprano

Bethan Langford mezzo-soprano

Alessandro Fisher tenor

Frederick Long bass-baritone

Sholto Kynoch piano

Generously supported by John & Gay Drysdale

Our Schubert weekend has a prelude in the form of this exuberant Schubertiade, with a welcome return from the ensemble Schubert & Co., whose sell-out performances at previous Festivals have always been joyous occasions. Expect dances and drinking songs, alongside much more intimate ensemble works that give an insight into the composer’s sociable inner circle; a group of friends and occasions that inspired deeply personal works.

ENSEMBLE 360

DIETRICH HENSCHEL

SCHUBERT & CO.

35 LATE-NIGHT CONCERT PIERROT LUNAIRE

9.45pm–10.45pm £18

The Levine Building, Trinity College

Ensemble 360

Claire Booth soprano

For the second of Ensemble 360’s concerts today, they are joined by the soprano

Claire Booth for a performance of a venerated 20th-century work, Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. With its innovative use of ‘Sprechstimme’ and atonal harmonic language, Pierrot elicited extreme reactions, both positive and negative, at its 1912 premiere. Tonight’s superb cast of musicians have recently recorded Pierrot Lunaire, alongside works by Thea Musgrave, Amy Beach and Poldowski that also complete tonight’s programme.

ELLA TAYLOR

HARRIET BURNS

KATIE BRAY

KATY THOMSON

BETHAN LANGFORD

ALESSANDRO FISHER

SHOLTO KYNOCH

FREDERICK LONG

SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER

CS H UBERT WEEK E DN

SCHUBERT 1828–2028

Our annual Schubert Weekend traces the composer’s life year by year, taking us to the bicentenary of his death in 2028. Our 1828 Syndicate, in support of these longterm plans, was established thanks to a generous lead gift from Hamish and Sophie Forsyth. See pages 38 & 39 for details on how to support the Oxford International Song Festival.

36 SONG CONNECTIONS SCHUBERT IN 1824

11am–12.15pm & 1.30pm–2.30pm

Holywell Music Room

£26

Graham Johnson speaker/piano

Harriet Burns soprano

Stephan Loges bass-baritone

Johann Mayrhofer: Mentor in Torment

Each year from now until 2028, the great Schubertian pianist and scholar Graham Johnson brings Schubert to life through his fascinating lecture-recitals, tracing the composer’s final years two centuries on. This seminal series is full of revelations and insights. Regarding today’s focus on 1824, Graham Johnson writes:

‘In the context of recounting the events of 1824, this lecture dwells on the back-story of the complicated friendship between Franz Schubert and the poet Johann Mayrhofer (1787-1836). It explores the fruitful influence that Mayrhofer’s knowledge and guidance had on Schubert’s development, and presents a selection of the magnificent songs that were composed as a result of their collaboration, culminating in the four great Mayrhofer song settings of 1824.’

37 AFTERNOON CONCERT A VIENNESE QUARTET

5pm–6pm

Holywell Music Room

Christian Immler baritone

CHRISTIAN IMMLER

£20

Anne Le Bozec piano

The German bass-baritone Christian Immler has been described as a ‘technically, musically and stylistically consummate interpreter’ (Klassik Heute) and we are thrilled that he is coming to the Festival for the first time with a wonderful programme of Schubert, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, including the latter’s An die ferne Geliebte. He is joined by the distinguished pianist Anne Le Bozec, as she arrives in Oxford to lead this year’s Mastercourse. A concert not to miss!

Christian

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY HAMISH AND SOPHIE FORSYTH

‘ SOPHIE KARTHÄUSER PROVES HERSELF A NATURAL IN LIEDER ... WITH HER FRESH, LIMPID SOPRANO AND SHARP FEELING FOR CHARACTER AND NUANCE ’

Gramophone

38 EVENING CONCERT LOVE AND LOVE BETRAYED

7.30pm–9pm

£34 Holywell Music Room

Sophie Karthäuser soprano

Eugene Asti piano

Generously supported by Jonathan Steinberg

Tonight we welcome back Sophie Karthäuser and Eugene Asti, a duo ‘simply to die for’ (Limelight Magazine) for a magical Schubert programme, inspired by themes of love and the mysticism of night. They perform a wonderful selection of songs, including the composer’s magisterial settings of Seidl alongside some of his most beautiful settings of Hölty, Schiller and Goethe.

CASTALIAN STRING QUARTET

39 LATE-NIGHT CONCERT ROSAMUNDE

9.45pm–10.30pm

£18 New College Chapel

Castalian String Quartet

Schubert String Quartet in A minor, ‘Rosamunde’

Presented in association with the Faculty of Music, University of Oxford

1824 saw Schubert write the only string quartet to be performed and published during his lifetime, a wonderful chamber work of atmospheric delicacy and song-like lyricism. The Castalian String Quartet (‘full of poetry, joy and sorrow, realised to such perfection’ The Observer) are the Hans Keller String Quartet in Residence at the University of Oxford, and in the magical setting of New College Chapel they round off a stunning day.

EUGENE ASTI

SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER

CS H UBERT WEEK E DN

The second day of our Schubert Weekend offers an opportunity to hear Schubert’s two great song cycles, Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, performed by an outstanding young tenor from the Wiener Staatsoper and renowned baritone Christopher Maltman respectively. We also mark the 150th birthday of Charles Ives, include a talk on Schubert’s Vienna, and host a fun family event.

40 CUSHION CONCERTS

10am, 11am & 12pm / Jacqueline du Pré Music Building

£7/ £25 family of four / Under 1s FREE

Siân Dicker soprano / Krystal Tunnicliffe piano

Becca Marriott leader

A fun exploration of music and words, the human voice and piano, singing and playing for all the family. The well-established Cushion Concerts at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building introduce a wide variety of music and instruments to children and their families and we are delighted to partner with them again. Remember to bring a cushion to sit on, and your best singing voice!

41 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

DIE SCHÖNE MÜLLERIN

11.15am–12.30pm

Holywell Music Room

Hiroshi Amako tenor

Michael Dussek piano

£22

A Schubert weekend would feel incomplete without a performance of Die schöne Müllerin, the emotionally illuminating tale of a young man setting out on a journey of discovery and feeling the effect of the beguiling forces of love and nature. To guide us through these travels, we welcome the brilliant young tenor Hiroshi Amako, a current member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble, and the renowned pianist Michael Dussek.

42 SONG CONNECTIONS SCHUBERT & THE CITY

2pm–3pm

Weston Library Lecture Theatre

Katy Hamilton speaker

£8

In the second of her talks at this year’s Festival, Katy Hamilton explores Schubert’s home town of Vienna: the highs and lows of this fast-growing city, and how its individuals and institutions played a role in the composer’s life and music.

Hiroshi Amako © Tamara Sophie Gries | Johannes Held © Jens Oellermann | Christopher Maltman © Chris Singer

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY HAMISH AND SOPHIE FORSYTH

‘ A BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE OF ASTONISHINGLY CONCENTRATED DRAMATIC AND VOCAL FOCUS ’

Opera Today

43 RUSH-HOUR CONCERT IVES & SCHUBERT

4pm–5pm

Holywell Music Room

Johannes Held baritone

Natalie Burch piano

£18

44 EVENING CONCERT WINTERREISE

7pm–8.30pm

St John the Evangelist

Today is the 150th birthday of American actuary, composer and musical magpie Charles Ives, whose huge song output provides a whirlwind tour of influences from German Lied to jazz themes and American folk song. To celebrate the occasion, Johannes Held (‘absolutely outstanding – not only for the beauty of his voice, but also for his physical engagement’, Amadeus Online) and Natalie Burch (‘a gifted sound-painter’, Classical Music) pair songs by Ives and Schubert, drawing out thematic and musical connections between these two prodigious song composers.

£11 / £22 / £34 / £45

Christopher Maltman baritone

Audrey Saint-Gil piano

To round off our Schubert Weekend, we are delighted to welcome back the ‘full, broad and aesthetically pleasing baritone’ (Opera Online) of Christopher Maltman, and outstanding French pianist and conductor Audrey Saint-Gil, whose recitals together have been highlights of the Festival in recent years. They perform Schubert’s seminal song cycle Winterreise, probably the best-known work of the entire song canon and one that rewards repeated hearings with an ever deeper revelation of human nature.

MONDAY 21 OCTOBER

Our Mastercourse gets underway, alongside three recitals rooted in Paris. The turbulent relationship of Verlaine and Rimbaud is the basis of the lunchtime concert, before an event exploring Yvonne Loriod in her centenary year. The preeminent French baritone Stéphane Degout makes a much-anticipated return to the Festival.

45 MASTERCOURSE MASTERCOURSE DAY 1

10am–12.30pm & 2.30pm–5pm

The Levine Building, Trinity College

The New Space, Mansfield Road

£7 per day / £28 Mastercourse Pass

Anne Le Bozec lead tutor

Christian Immler guest tutor

The Mastercourse, part of our Young Artist Programme, is generously supported by Jerwood Foundation and other charitable trusts and foundations.

The Mastercourse offers a fantastic opportunity for the eight outstanding duos of our Young Artist Programme to immerse themselves in song and learn from the very best international tutors and performers. The duos were all selected at this year’s Spring Song weekend and you can hear them opening our evening recitals during the first week of the festival. This year’s course is led by Anne Le Bozec, Professor of Vocal Accompaniment at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, and one of the most renowned collaborative pianists of her generation. All sessions are open to the public and run simultaneously in Trinity College and The New Space, Mansfield Road. You are welcome to come and go and move between venues. Each day’s schedule will be posted online.

46

LUNCHTIME CONCERT A SEASON IN HELL

1pm–2pm

Holywell Music Room

Ted Black tenor

Dylan Perez piano

£18

Ted Black and Dylan Perez’s dramatic and varied programme charts the tumultuous relationship between Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine that ended with Verlaine’s imprisonment for shooting his partner. Expect theatrical displays from piano and voice in Britten’s setting of Rimbaud’s Les Illuminations as well as a rare opportunity to hear songs by Josef Szulc, Jean Cras and Charles Bordes. Ted Black gave some thrilling performances for us in 2021 and is now rapidly establishing himself as a leading young tenor.

Ted Black

© Olivia Da Costa

Stéphane Degout © Jean-Baptiste Millot

Simon Lepper © Robert Workman

Claire Ward © Benjamin Ealovega

‘ HIS PERFORMANCE IS SIMPLY BREATHTAKING IN ITS DRAMATIC INTENSITY … A MASTERFUL FRENCH SINGING LESSON! ’ Forum Opéra

47

SONG CONNECTIONS GRAINS DE CENDRE

5.15pm–6.15pm

Holywell Music Room

Peter Asimov speaker

Claire Ward soprano

Sirius Chau flute

JongSun Woo piano

£12

48

EVENING CONCERT GABRIEL FAURÉ

7.30pm–9pm

Holywell Music Room

Stéphane Degout baritone

Simon Lepper piano

Yvonne Loriod, born 100 years ago this year, is perhaps best known as one of the finest pianists of the 20th century. She was married to the composer Olivier Messiaen but her own compositions have been largely forgotten. However, interest in her oeuvre is being reinvigorated by Peter Asimov and he gives an illuminating talk that includes a performance of her Grains de Cendre. This work for voice, flute and piano was written in 1946 but only recently rediscovered and was given its premiere just last year.

Generously supported by Nigel & Griselda Hamway

It is the centenary year of Gabriel Fauré’s death, and we mark this with a special recital from the pre-eminent French baritone Stéphane Degout (‘a wonderfully patrician singer with a handsome, ringing tone’, The Guardian), who last came to the Festival in 2019 and whose UK appearances are always sell-out occasions. Joined by pianist Simon Lepper, he brings us a luxuriant selection of songs from this master of mélodie. An unmissable Festival evening. CLAIRE

£32

EARTH ’ S MUSIC

TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER

The Mastercourse continues under the guidance of two eminent French musicians, and we welcome back a star French duo at lunchtime. The first of three concerts this week with our international partner Festivals is an homage to Victoria de los Angeles, before a typically captivating programme from James Gilchrist and Anna Tilbrook, and an arresting latenight performance.

MARIE-LAURE GARNIER

49 MASTERCOURSE MASTERCOURSE DAY TWO

10am–12.30pm & 2.30pm–5pm

The Levine Building, Trinity College

The New Space, Mansfield Road

£7 per day / £28 Mastercourse Pass

Anne Le Bozec lead tutor

Stéphane Degout guest tutor

See Event 45 for details

50 LUNCHTIME CONCERT JE NE T’AIME PAS

1pm–2pm £18

Holywell Music Room

Marie-Laure Garnier soprano

Célia Oneto Bensaid piano

This wonderful duo have given some astonishing Festival concerts and built a real following among our audience for their great sense of passion and communication. It’s always a pleasure to welcome them back and today they bring a very special programme of American song, including spirituals, cabaret songs by William Bolcolm, and jazz-inflected works by Kurt Weill and George Gershwin.

51 RUSH-HOUR CONCERT SONGS OF THE ANGELS

5.15pm–6.15pm £12

Holywell Music Room

Montserrat Seró soprano

Bernardo Rambeaud guitar

Presented in association with the LIFE Victoria Festival, Barcelona

Two exceptional artists who have been Young Artists of our partner festival in Barcelona, bring a beautiful selection of Schubert and Catalan folk songs for voice and guitar. Their programme is inspired by the recitals of Victoria de los Angeles, who used to perform regularly with guitar. And while the world of Spanish folk song might be strongly associated with the guitar, it’s worth noting that Schubert himself played and probably accompanied himself in his songs on this instrument.

Anna Tilbrook & James Gilchrist © Patrick Allen | Jennifer Walshe © Fabonthemoon

‘ GILCHRIST IS, AS EVER, A HUGELY CLEAR AND COMMUNICATIVE SINGER, IN PERFECT BALANCE WITH TILBROOK ’ S SENSE OF FOCUS AND POISE ’

The Guardian

52

EVENING CONCERT

THE EARTH HAS MUSIC

7.30pm–8.45pm

Holywell Music Room

James Gilchrist tenor

Anna Tilbrook piano

£32

53 LATE-NIGHT CONCERT A LATE ANTHOLOGY

9.30pm–10.30pm

£12 Worcester College Chapel

Jennifer Walshe composer/vocalist

Presented in association with Worcester College

James Gilchrist and Anna Tilbrook have been delighting audiences in Oxford and internationally for over 25 years and their varied and compelling programmes have made them firm favourites of Oxford Song Festival audiences. In this sumptuous selection of songs charting the relationship between humankind and nature, they perform works by Lili Boulanger, Muriel Herbert, Roger Quilter and Gustav Mahler.

Jennifer Walshe has been described as ‘the most original compositional voice to emerge from Ireland in the past 20 years’ (The Irish Times) and is Professor of Composition and a Fellow in Music at Worcester College, our 2024 Partner College. Her third solo album, A Late Anthology of Early Music Vol. 1: Ancient to Renaissance, uses AI to rework canonical works from early Western music history, and was chosen as an album of the year by The Irish Times, The Wire and The Quietus. She performs selections from this album, before leading a discussion on the potential uses of AI in the music of the present and the future.

ANNA TILBROOK & JAMES GILCHRIST

JENNIFER WALSHE

WEDNESDAY 23 OCTOBER

A delightful lunchtime concert is an affectionate homage to music and musicians; a prizewinning Korean tenor performs Schumann’s Dichterliebe; and the autumn leaves swirl in a welcome return from soprano Lucy Crowe.

54 MASTERCOURSE

MASTERCOURSE

DAY THREE

10am–12.30pm & 2.30pm–5pm

The Levine Building, Trinity College

The New Space, Mansfield Road

£7 per day / £28 Mastercourse Pass

Anne Le Bozec lead tutor

Dame Sarah Connolly guest tutor

See Event 45 for details

55 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

OVER THE PIANO

1pm–2pm £20 Holywell Music Room

Ben Johnson tenor

Roger Vignoles piano

Songs about music and musicians, and about the allure (or otherwise) of both, form the backbone of this beguiling programme. The illustrious tenor Ben Johnson is joined by pianist Roger Vignoles, whose playing has been described by Gramophone as having reached ‘the very highest level of sophistication and accomplishment’. Ranging from Purcell’s ‘Music for a while’ to Poulenc’s ‘Paganini’ and Bolcolm’s ‘Over the Piano’, via Schubert, Wolf and Brahms, this is a delightful, unmissable melting-pot of songs.

BEN JOHNSON

ROGER VIGNOLES

Roger Vignoles © Ben Ealovega

TAE-HWAN YUN

‘ HER PURE SOPRANO TOOK US HEAVENWARDS WITH DAZZLING HIGH NOTES UNTIL WE ARRIVED AT PARADISE ITSELF. ’

The Times

56 RUSH-HOUR CONCERT POET’S LOVE

5.15pm–6.15pm

Holywell Music Room

Tae-Hwan Yun tenor JongSun Woo piano

Schumann Dichterliebe; Korean songs

Korean tenor Tae-Hwan Yun was joint First Prize winner at the prestigious Das Lied competition in Heidelberg in 2023, having previously won multiple prizes at other competitions, and is already gaining an enviable profile as a recitalist. He and rising-star pianist JongSun Woo perform Schumann’s great cycle Dichterliebe, the composer’s 1840 settings of Heine that have been a staple of the repertoire ever since they were first heard. They also include some beautiful Korean songs by Doo Nam Cho, Texu Kim and Dong Jin Kim.

57

EVENING CONCERT AUTUMN LEAVES

7.30pm–8.45pm £32

Holywell Music Room

Lucy Crowe soprano

Anna Tilbrook piano

Generously supported by The Beeching Trust

The thrilling and highly sought-after soprano Lucy Crowe makes a welcome return to the Festival with Anna Tilbrook, for a very seasonal recital celebrating the blustery delights of autumn. This special programme features songs by a wide range of composers, as they respond to the changing seasons and reflect on themes of transience, restlessness and Waldeinsamkeit, or ‘forest solitude’. From Franz Schubert and Fanny Mendelssohn, Gabriel Fauré and Cécile Chaminade, to Benjamin Britten and Amy Beach, this is a treasure-trove of song in the company of two consummate artists.

ACROSS THE POND

THURSDAY 24 OCTOBER

A fascinating talk on women composers precedes a star

American duo at lunchtime. The penultimate day of the Mastercourse is followed by Evensong at Worcester College, before Will Liverman, one of the most acclaimed young American baritones, and pianist Jonathan King round off the day in style.

HEIDI STOBER

58 SONG CONNECTIONS

THE HEART OF A WOMAN

11am–12pm FREE

Weston Library Lecture Theatre

Kate Kennedy speaker

Ahead of today’s inspired lunchtime concert programme, Kate Kennedy – writer, broadcaster and Associate Director of the Oxford Centre for Life Writing – discusses the brilliant women composers whose songs we will hear, interweaving their lives and music.

59 LUNCHTIME CONCERT DESPITE AND STILL

1pm–2pm £18

Holywell Music Room

Heidi Stober soprano

Tanya Blaich piano

The American soprano Heidi Stober enjoys a glittering career in concert and opera on both sides of the Atlantic. She sang the title role in Garsington Opera’s 2017 production of Handel’s Semele, when The Guardian enjoyed her ‘creamy tone and gleaming high notes’. With the acclaimed American pianist Tanya Blaich, she performs a programme inspired by Samuel Barber’s song ‘Despite and Still’, exploring tenacity and resilience in navigating life’s challenges. Alongside music by Barber, the artists have chosen a range of captivating songs by Elisabeth Lutyens, Maude Valérie White, Ethel Smyth, Germaine Tailleferre, Margaret Bonds and Florence Price.

60 MASTERCOURSE

MASTERCOURSE DAY FOUR

2.30pm–5pm NB Afternoon only

The Levine Building, Trinity College

£4 afternoon / £28 Mastercourse Pass

Anne Le Bozec lead tutor

See Event 45 for details

Heidi Stober © Simon Pauly | Will Liverman © Larrynx photography

THE CHOIR OF WORCESTER COLLEGE

‘

... BEAUTIFULLY SUNG BY LIVERMAN … PERFORMED WITH GREAT SKILL AND FEELING. ’

Opera Ramblings

61 RUSH-HOUR CONCERT

FESTIVAL EVENSONG

6pm–6.50pm

Worcester College Chapel

The Choir of Worcester College

Caius Lee director

Please note that this is a religious service, not a concert. No booking is required.

As part of its regular contribution to worship, the Choir of Worcester College, our 2024 Partner College, sings evensong. The College has a rich tradition of composer Fellows (see Event 53) and tonight the Choir includes music by Deborah Pritchard and Kenneth Leighton, both former College members, as a reflective complement to the day’s concerts.

62 EVENING CONCERT

SCHUBERT, BURLEIGH, LARSEN

7.30pm–9pm

Holywell Music Room

Will Liverman baritone Jonathan King piano

Generously supported by Elaine Wang Meyerhoffer

£32

Will Liverman is one of today’s most exciting American baritones, equally acclaimed on the opera and song stages. Of his 2023 Lincoln Center recital, Operawire wrote, ‘Liverman’s performance explored an extraordinary depth of emotional intelligence and expansive intuition through works that expressed a world of infinite hope, empowerment, and transcending awareness.’ We are thrilled to welcome him to the Festival with his regular duo partner, the outstanding pianist Jonathan King. They perform a group of songs by Schubert, as well as music by Harry T Burleigh, Libby Larsen and Will Liverman himself.

THE ECHOING AIR

FRIDAY 25 OCTOBER

It’s the final day of this year’s Mastercourse. At lunchtime, we welcome a brilliant young soprano who is already captivating European concert halls. Two duos represent our international Festival partner at rush hour, and the sensational mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston contrasts musical styles across the ages.

63 MASTERCOURSE MASTERCOURSE DAY FIVE

10am–12.30pm & 2.30pm–5pm

The Levine Building, Trinity College

The New Space, Mansfield Road £7 per day / £28 Mastercourse Pass

Anne Le Bozec lead tutor

Joan Rodgers guest tutor

See Event 45 for details

64 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

THE POET’S ECHO

1pm–2pm £18 Holywell Music Room

Erika Baikoff soprano

James Baillieu piano

Erika Baikoff is a recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and is already fast establishing herself on the international recital scene. Joined by the pianist James Baillieu (‘in a class of his own’, The Daily Telegraph), she presents high-Romantic songs by Joseph Marx and Tchaikovsky. They also perform Dvóřak’s passionate Zigeunerlieder, and Benjamin Britten’s The Poet’s Echo: six settings of Pushkin dedicated to the legendary soprano Galina Vishnevskaya.

ANNE LE BOZEC

‘ A TRIUMPHANT RECITAL … SHE LIVES THE TEXT OF EACH SONG, WHETHER EXULTANT OR DESOLATE, DRAWING US INTO HER STORY ’ The Guardian TOMAS

66 EVENING CONCERT

NOTES OF OLD

7.30pm–9.15pm

Holywell Music Room

Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano Sholto Kynoch piano

65 RUSH-HOUR CONCERT DUTCH CONNECTIONS

5.15pm–6.15pm

Holywell Music Room

Yue Wang soprano

Sara Pavlovic piano

Tomas Kildišius baritone

Ani Ter-Martirosyan piano

Presented in association with the International Lied Festival Zeist

£32

£12

Two exciting young duos arrive from our partner festival in the Netherlands, the International Lied Festival Zeist – both are former winners of the ILFZ Young Artist Platform. This showcase recital includes songs by Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, as well as two important figures of the first half of the 20th century: the Dutch pianist-composer Henriëtte Bosmans and Austrian Viktor Ullmann.

Generously supported by Julian Hall & Ingrid Lunt

Helen Charlston, winner of the 2023 BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award, gave a memorable performance at last year’s Festival, described as ‘sensational’ and awarded five stars by The Observer. For the first part of this recital, she and pianist Sholto Kynoch weave together music from across the centuries, juxtaposing works from the Baroque with Romantic and contemporary songs. Music by Bach, Monteverdi and Sweelinck resonates in unexpected ways with songs by Schubert, Hahn, Anna Semple and others, highlighting the enduring tapestry of human experience that transcends temporal boundaries! The pair then perform Schumann’s Kerner Lieder, an extraordinary cycle of songs that also owes much to music of the past.

SONG SALON

SATURDAY 26 OCTOBER

The Festival draws to an uplifting conclusion, beginning with our sociable Song Club and the wonderful Mastercourse showcase concert. The Choir of Merton College perform Mozart’s glorious Requiem, before a star cast closes the Festival in style.

67 SONG CONNECTIONS SONG CLUB

11am–12.15pm

£10 (incl. tea/coffee)

Doctorow Room, St Edmund Hall

Led by Richard Wigmore

This informal, lively discussion group, led by writer and broadcaster Richard Wigmore, has become a popular Festival fixture. Akin to a book club, all are welcome to contribute or simply listen in to an enthusiastic conversation about song and all aspects of its performance.

68 MASTERCOURSE MASTERCOURSE CONCERT

1.30pm–3.30pm £16

Holywell Music Room

Oxford Song Young Artists

Introduced by Anne Le Bozec

The annual Mastercourse concert is one of the most uplifting events of the Festival. This year, the eight duos of our Young Artist Programme will have been working intensively with pianist Anne Le Bozec, who introduces this showcase of all their achievements. The breadth of style and repertoire never fails to inspire, and all are warmly encouraged to attend this celebration of the next generation of song artists.

69 RUSH-HOUR CONCERT MOZART REQUIEM

5pm–6pm

Merton College Chapel

Caroline Taylor soprano

Katie Macdonald mezzo-soprano

Magnus Walker tenor

Wonsick Oh baritone

The Choir of Merton College

Benjamin Nicholas director

£18 / £25

As the feast of All Souls draws near, it’s become something of a Festival tradition to include a choral Requiem performance. The Choir of Merton College, one of the leading standard-bearers of Oxford’s great choral tradition, tonight perform Mozart’s Requiem. Mozart was still working on this piece when he died in 1781 and it quickly became one of his most enduringly popular compositions.

THE CHOIR OF MERTON COLLEGE

‘ A TENOR WHO COMBINES HEROIC TONE AND A POETIC SENSIBILITY THAT TAKES THE BREATH AWAY ’

The Times NICKY SPENCE

70 CLOSING NIGHT CONCERT

LA BONNE CHANSON

7.30pm–9.30pm

St John the Evangelist £11 / £22 / £34 / £45

Nicky Spence tenor

Piatti String Quartet

Julius Drake piano

Generously supported by the Kowitz Family Foundation

The phenomenal tenor Nicky Spence is known as one of the most charismatic figures of classical music. He was awarded ‘Personality of the Year’ by BBC Music Magazine in 2022, is a former winner of the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award, and

Gramophone's Solo Vocal Award. For the closing concert of this year’s Festival, he joins forces with the pre-eminent pianist Julius Drake and one of the UK’s finest string quartets. Together they perform Fauré’s great cycle La Bonne Chanson, which sets the poetry of Paul Verlaine. Marcel Proust was an early fan, writing that ‘it appears needlessly complex ... but I don’t care, I adore it!’ After this, a series of tributes in song, with works by Schubert, Vaughan Williams, Poulenc, Coward and others, provide a truly exuberant finale.

SUPPORTERS’ RECEPTION Friends of Oxford Song and members of the Schubert Circle are warmly invited to a celebratory reception after tonight’s concert to mark the end of the Festival. To find out more about supporting Oxford Song, see pages 38 & 39.

JULIUS DRAKE

PIATTI STRING QUARTET

SUPPORT US

Even with full houses, ticket sales generate just 40% of our annual income, and it is the support of individuals, charitable trusts and our corporate partners that sustains our activity each year. We would not be where we are today without the continued generosity of our wonderful family of supporters, to whom we are hugely grateful.

Oxford International Song Festival is on a bright and brilliant trajectory, with ambitious plans to grow its artistic and outreach programmes in future years. As we forge ahead with these exciting activities, we need your help to ensure that our inspirational programme of performance, creation, training and learning continues to thrive for many more years to come.

HOW TO SUPPORT OXFORD INTERNATIONAL SONG FESTIVAL

Become a member with a regular monthly or annual gift by joining either:

The Friends of Oxford International Song Festival (from £5pcm) OR

The Schubert Circle (from £50pcm)

Make a one-off donation

Pledge to leave a gift to Oxford International Song Festival in your will

To find out more visit oxfordsong.org/support, or if you are interested in making a larger gift to join the Artistic Director’s Circle or 1828 Syndicate, please contact: Ellen Parkes, Development Director | ellen@oxfordsong.org | 07751 286 625

WE

NEED YOUR HELP

TO MAKE OXFORD INTERNATIONAL SONG FESTIVAL POSSIBLE

ENSURE

world-class musicmaking in the heart of Oxford

ENCOURAGE the next generation of musicians and help inspire young people across Oxfordshire

ENJOY

a priority booking period and guarantee your tickets for the most popular concerts

CELEBRATE

song, music and poetry, and be a vital part of a thriving, inspirational Festival

MEET

Festival artists and like-minded song lovers at supporters’ events and receptions throughout the year

COMING TO THE FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL PASS

A Festival Pass is the perfect way to take in the full breadth of the Festival and immerse yourself in song! Make a holiday of it and be inspired by all the Festival has to offer, with access to all events at a significant saving. It’s an unforgettable experience.

FULL FESTIVAL PASS

11 – 26 October

£990

ONE-WEEK PASSES

Week One: 11 – 18 October

£580

Week Two: 19 – 26 October

£460

SCHUBERT WEEKEND PASS

19 & 20 October

£160

If you have any questions about passes or would like assistance with your booking, please contact the Box Office.

HELP & FAQS

For information on wheelchair spaces, easy-access seats, waiting lists for sold-out events, doors opening times, latecomers, schedule changes and refunds, please visit the FAQs page on our website: oxfordsong.org/faqs

BOX OFFICE

The easiest way to book is online at: oxfordsong.org

If you have any queries, please email: boxoffice@oxfordsong.org

Or call us on 01865 591276 (Mon–Fri 11am–4pm)

ONLINE TICKET OFFERS

The more concerts you book via our website the more you save! The following discounts apply (within a single booking):

• 5 or more concerts: 5%

• 10 or more concerts: 10%

• 15 or more concerts: 15%

UNDER-35 s

£10 tickets for under-35s are available at all events. Join our mailing list and follow us on social media.

THE OXFORD SONG BUS

THE TEAM

Artistic Director

Sholto Kynoch

Associate Artistic Director 2024

Natalie Burch

Administration & Finance

Taya Smith Development

Ellen Parkes

Box Office & Membership

Helena Wynn Marketing

Jeff Coventry-Fenn Programmes

Zoe Lumsden

Learning & Participation

Kate SwinburneJohnson

Honorary Secretary

Peter Burrows

Press

Clare Adams

Claire Lishman

Website

Tom King Design

Ana Acosta

Return to Oxford Parkway Park & Ride quickly and easily after the main evening concert by booking a seat in one of our pre-arranged minicabs. Simply book your seat at the Box Office before the evening concert and a taxi will collect you and fellow concert-goers from outside the venue and take you to the Park & Ride. Fares cost £3.50 per person.

FESTIVAL PARTNERS

Broadcast Partner

College Partner

Holywell Music Room Partner Events Partner

Events Partner

International Partner International Partner

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO

The 1828 Syndicate

Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Founder Supporters

The Kowitz Family Foundation

Bernard & Sarah Taylor

An anonymous donor

Members of the Artistic Director’s Circle

Members of the Schubert Circle

The Friends of Oxford International Song Festival

SUPPORTING OUR ARTISTIC PROGRAMME

The Beeching Trust

The J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust

Faculty of Music, University of Oxford

Oxford City Council Community Impact Fund

The Tolkien Trust

SUPPORTING SONG FUTURES

The Nicholas John Trust Founder Supporter

The Hinrichsen Foundation

The Vaughan Williams Foundation

SUPPORTING YOUNG ARTISTS & EDUCATION

All Souls College, Oxford

The Ammco Charitable Trust

The Anson Charitable Trust

The Bartlett Taylor Charitable Trust

Brasenose College, Oxford

The Charlotte Bonham-Carter Charitable Trust

Christ Church, Oxford

The Charity of Thomas Dawson

The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust

The Doris Field Charitable Trust

The Idlewild Trust

Jerwood Foundation

Young Artist Programme

Principal Supporter

Jesus College, Oxford

The Kirby Laing Foundation

The Jean Meikle Music Trust

The Mila Charitable Organisation

New College, Oxford

Sarah Nowell’s Educational Foundation

Oxford Orpheus

The PF Charitable Trust

The Queen’s College, Oxford

The Radcliffe Trust

The Souldern Trust

The Adrian Swire Charitable Trust

St John’s College, Oxford

The John Thaw Foundation

The Thistle Trust

THE FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE

10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm

FRI 11 pp6–7

SAT 12 pp8–9

SUN 13 pp10–11

MON 14 pp12–13

TUE 15 pp14–15

WED 16 pp16–17

THU 17 pp18–19

FRI 18 pp20–21

SAT 19 pp22–23

SUN 20 pp24–25

MON 21 pp26–27

TUE 22 pp28–29

WED 23 pp30–31

THU 24 pp32–33

FRI 25 pp34–35

SAT 26 pp36–37

1. Haydn in Oxford: Doric Quartet, Angharad Rowlands (HMR)

4. A Tale of Two Cities: Leipzig & Berlin

Natasha Loges, Stephan Loges, Joanna Kacperek (HMR)

8a. Arcadia: James Way, Elizabeth Kenny (WC)

7. SongPath (WC)

11. Kafka: Making of an Icon (WL)

15. Kafka’s Prague (WL)

21. Composition Workshop (Clore Studios)

26. The Wanderer: James Newby, Natalie Burch (HMR)

30. Revolution in Words (LB)

40. Family Cushion Concerts (10am, 11am, 12pm. JdP)

2. Haydn’s English Adventures (HMR)

8b. Arcadia: James Way, Elizabeth Kenny (WC)

12. Hollywood Songbook: Holger Falk, Julius Drake (HMR)

16. Death and Paradise: Mimi Doulton, Dylan Perez (HMR)

22. Song of the Earth: Diana Moore, Ed Lyon, John Reid (HMR)

27. Night and Dreams: Elizabeth Watts, Michael Pandya (HMR)

31. Byron and Don Juan: Ella Taylor, Jocelyn Freeman (HMR)

36. Schubert in 1824: Graham Johnson, Harriet Burns, Stephan Loges (HMR)

41. Die schöne Müllerin: Hiroshi Amako, Michael Dussek (HMR)

45. Mastercourse Day One: Anne Le Bozec/Christian Immler (LB/TNS)

49. Mastercourse Day Two: Anne Le Bozec/Stéphane Degout (LB/TNS)

54. Mastercourse Day Three: Anne Le Bozec/Dame Sarah Connolly (LB/TNS)

58. The Heart of a Woman (WL)

63. Mastercourse Day Five: Anne Le Bozec/Joan Rodgers (LB/TNS)

67. Song Club: Richard Wigmore (SEH)

46. A Season in Hell: Ted Black, Dylan Perez (HMR)

50. Je ne t’aime pas: Marie-Laure Garnier, Célia Oneto Bensaid (HMR)

55. Over the Piano: Ben Johnson, Roger Vignoles (HMR)

59. Despite and Still: Heidi Stober, Tanya Blaich (HMR)

64. The Poet’s Echo: Erika Baikoff, James Baillieu (HMR)

42. Schubert & The City (WL)

13. The Landscape of Exile: Katy Hamilton, Katy Thomson, Rustam Khanmurzin (Lincoln

17. The Bhagavad Gita (WL)

23. The World of Yesterday (TNS)

32. Revolution in Music (LB)

Mastercourse Day One:

Anne Le Bozec/Christian Immler (LB/TNS)

Mastercourse Day Two:

Anne Le Bozec/Stéphane Degout (LB/TNS)

Mastercourse Day Three:

Anne Le Bozec/Dame Sarah Connolly (LB/TNS)

60. Mastercourse Day Four: Anne Le Bozec (LB)

Mastercourse Day Five:

Anne Le Bozec/Joan Rodgers (LB/TNS)

68. Mastercourse Concert (HMR)

VENUES KEY: HMR: Holywell Music Room | JdP: Jacqueline du Pré Music Building | LB: Levine Building, Trinity College | NCC: New College Chapel

3. Love’s Messenger: Roderick Williams, Natalie Burch (The Olivier Hall, St Edward’s School)

5. Album für die Frau: Carolyn Sampson, Joseph Middleton (HMR)

9. Longing for Nature: Sarah Wegener, Götz Payer (HMR)

10. Rückert Lieder: Dame Sarah Connolly, Joseph Middleton (SJE) Thomson, (Lincoln College)

18. Artist Talk (WL)

14. Schubert and Schumann: Christoph Prégardien, Sholto Kynoch (SJE)

19. Eternity in an Hour: Jess Dandy, Keval Shah (HMR)

24. Kaleidoscope (HMR)

28. Un Viaggio Italiano: Chaos String Quartet (HMR)

33. Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte: Ensemble 360, Dietrich Henschel (LB)

37. A Viennese Quartet: Christian Immler, Anne Le Bozec (HMR)

43. Ives & Schubert: Johannes Held, Natalie Burch (HMR)

47. Grains de Cendre (HMR)

51. Songs of the Angels: Montserrat Seró, Bernardo Rambeaud (HMR)

56. Poet’s Love: Tae-Hwan Yun, JongSun Woo (HMR)

61. Festival Evensong (WC)

65. Dutch Connections (HMR)

69. Mozart Requiem (Merton)

6. Kafka Fragments (NCC)

20. Jasdeep Singh Degun, Sanju Sahai (HMR)

25. Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber (Sheldonian)

29. Liebeslieder Walzer: Elizabeth Watts, Kathryn Rudge, Ben Johnson, James Atkinson, Sholto Kynoch, Michael Pandya (HMR)

34. A Schubertiade: Schubert & Co. (HMR)

38. Love and Love Betrayed: Sophie Karthäuser, Eugene Asti (HMR)

44. Winterreise: Christopher Maltman, Audrey Saint-Gil (SJE)

48. Gabriel Fauré: Stéphane Degout, Simon Lepper (HMR)

52. The Earth has Music: James Gilchrist, Anna Tilbrook (HMR)

57. Autumn Leaves: Lucy Crowe, Anna Tilbrook (HMR)

62. Schubert, Burleigh, Larsen: Will Liverman, Jonathan King (HMR)

66. Notes of Old: Helen Charlston, Sholto Kynoch (HMR)

70. La Bonne Chanson: Nicky Spence, Piatti String Quartet, Julius Drake (SJE)

35. Pierrot Lunaire: Ensemble 360, Claire Booth (LB)

39. Rosamunde: Castalian Quartet (NCC)

53. A Late Anthology: Jennifer Walshe (WC)