Daily Archives: 15 August, 2016

OXFORD LIEDER FESTIVAL 2016: THE SCHUMANN PROJECT

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For the first time ever, all of Schumann’s songs will be performed at the Oxford Lieder Festival (14- 29 October 2016) together with an array of his other works, the complete songs of his wife Clara Schumann, and songs by his friends, contemporaries and successors. Featuring nearly 100 events, The Schumann Project will include some 40 song recitals, as well as piano and chamber music recitals, choral works, study events, film, readings, masterclasses and more.

World class artists will come to Oxford including Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber who will give the opening recital (14 Oct), Anne Sofie von Otter (24 Oct), Bo Skovhus (23 Oct), Juliane Banse (21 Oct), Thomas Allen (20 Oct), Sarah Connolly (15 Oct), Sophie Daneman (27 Oct), Dietrich Henschel (17 Oct), Felicity Lott (26 Oct), James Gilchrist (27 Oct), Sophie Karthäuser (15 Oct ), Christopher Maltman (16 Oct), Joan Rodgers (17 Oct), Mark Padmore (25 Oct),Christoph Prégardien (22 Oct), Kate Royal (28 Oct), Birgid Steinberger (18 Oct) and Roderick Williams (24 Oct).Emerging stars performing include Lorena Paz Nieto, Katherine Watson, Raphaela Papadakis, Ben Johnson andJohannes Kammler. They will be joined by acclaimed pianists including Julius Drake, Eugene Asti, Bengt Forsberg, Matti Hirvonen, Graham Johnson, Malcolm Martineau, Anna Tilbrook, and Roger Vignoles. Chamber and piano music will be performed by Alasdair Beatson, the Doric Quartet, the award-winning Gildas Quartet, Tom Poster, Alexander Panfilov, the Phoenix Piano Trio and others.

Renowned pianist David Owen Norris (19 Oct) performs on one of Clara Schumann’s pianos exploring the sound world of the 1840s. Graham Johnson (15 & 22 Oct) gives two lecture-recitals; study days will look at Schumann’s fascination with Bach, and at the political upheaval and revolution of the 1840s; Wolfgang Holzmair will lead the residential mastercourse; and there will be film screenings, masterclasses and talks. 2016 is also the 120th anniversary of Clara Schumann’s death; her 29 songs will be included in the Festival.

Events take place in all corners of the city from college chapels, Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre and Europe’s oldest concert hall – the Holywell Music Room – to the recently restored Ashmolean Museum and the Bodleian Library.

Sholto Kynoch, Artistic Director, says: “I’m thrilled that such an amazing array of artists will be coming to Oxford for this unique celebration of Schumann. It’s a wonderful opportunity to hear his complete songs, but a survey like this must never become an exercise in simply ticking off songs so we also have a fantastically wide-ranging series of other events designed to give a genuine insight into the man, his music and the world he inhabited. People ask me what the highlights are: it’s impossible to pick a single event and the highlight for me is the whole Festival experience. Whether you just dip into one of our superb lunchtime recitals, or come to hear the world’s great singers, or want to spot the best new talent, you’ll find much to enjoy. I always encourage people to set aside some time and come to a selection of events. Enjoy being immersed in Schumann and hearing him in a new light!”

The annual Oxford Lieder Festival is now in its 15th year and has established itself as one of the most prestigious celebrations of song in Europe. It presents a feast of song in Oxford each October with the world’s most sought-after artists as well as the new generation of younger talents. Its founder and artistic director is the pianist Sholto Kynoch. The 2014 Festival, The Schubert Project, won a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society award, and was singled out for its ‘breath, depth and audacity of programming.’

General booking open www.oxfordlieder.co.uk / 01865 591276. www.oxfordlieder.co.uk

Prom 39

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 Royal Albert Hall, Sunday 14 August 2016

Prom 39

Haydn’s Symphony No 34 in D minor is so rarely heard this was its first Proms outing. Strange, when one comes to consider the work, as it is a fascinating link between earlier baroque structures and the later romantic movement. It is almost as if the composer poured himself into the first movement then reverted to the more conventional for the rest of the symphony. The third movement has a lovely gentle trio before a rather folksy finale.

One of the reasons for its inclusion was the parallel with Mahler’s 5th Symphony both in terms of key – D minor – and the movement from angst to sunny optimism. This was certainly true of Sakari Oramo’s approach. There was nothing cynical or nasty about the joy of the final movement which blazed with authority and vigour. The brass section of the BBC Symphony Orchestra had excelled itself throughout and brought the final pages to a thrilling intensity. The Adagietto was given a hushed sensitivity which may have come across better on the wireless for the frequent uncovered coughs were an irritant to an approach which even the RAH can take if the audience is on its side. There used to be a note in the programme about coughing – maybe it needs to return.

Between these two masterpieces we heard a new commission from Charlotte Bray. Entitled Falling in the Fire it was envisaged as a Cello Concerto and Guy Johnston was the soloist last night. I accept it may have come across better on the radio but in the hall the cello was frequently inaudible beneath the battery of brass and percussion. It only really surfaced in the quieter reflective moments where there seemed to be the makings of a distinctive solo voice, only to vanish again as the orchestra returned. If this was intentional it is hardly a concerto; if it was not, then the composer needs to reconsider the internal balance of the work.

Brighton Connections Summer Season 2016

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Brighton Unitarian Church, 14 August 2016

The central plank and final work in this enjoyable hour-long concert, focusing mainly on the work of young composers, was Haydn’s String Quartet in B flat Op 1 No I. One of the earliest of all string quartets, its symmetrical five movement structure consists of two minuets sandwiching an adagio (warmly played by this group) and flanked by a presto at either end. It’s a delightful piece, brought joyfully to life by Roland Roberts, violin, and his colleagues especially during the first minuet when the texture splits into a typically Hadynesque question and answer sequence between the two violins in “conversation” with viola and cello. The rapport was nicely highlighted.

Three works preceded the Haydn. Mozart’s three movement String Divertimento, also in B flat major,  (K137) opens with a first violin lead – Roberts is an unshowy but assertive player – into the sonorous andante, which was thoughtfully explored. There was some fine work in the sparky, colourful finale too.

Two of Dvorak’s Zypressen (Liebeslieder) made an interesting contrast to the classical world of Haydn and Mozart. Originally written as songs for voice and later adapted by the composer these are intensely tuneful. The first opens with the melody – lyrically played by violist Morgan Goff and then passed lovingly round in an attractive performance of an appealing work.

An even greater contrast came with Fuzon (String Quartet in two movements) 2012 by John Hawkins who lives in Lewes and was present in the audience. This was certainly the most challenging, and probably the most satisfying, work in the programme for the players. At one point I could feel Roland Roberts counting (and he has my sympathy). Inspired by Blake’s poetry the first movement depicts the elderly sterile Urizen and the second Fuzon, the embodiment of fire who opposes him. The quartet managed the contrast dynamically and played with real clarity and precision in the busy, rapid second movement particularly during the rhythmic  harmonics which conclude the piece.

The Unitarian Church in New Road has a fine acoustic for chamber music which sounds both crisp and resonant therein. With the doors closed you feel sealed in with the music.  Even the sound of Street Brighton noisily enjoying itself outside on a summer Sunday afternoon seems a long way away.

Susan Elkin