Oxford Lieder Song at Wolfson
ANNA CAVALIERO, SOPRANO
Leonard Wolfson Auditorium, Wolfson College
Thursday, 6pm
Tickets: 01865 591276 or www.oxfordlieder.co.uk
If you thought you had to wait until October for your next lieder fix, think again. Oxford Lieder’s popular Song at Wolfson series is back, starting with a recital by young soprano Anna Cavaliero – described in The Stage as a singer “of sweetness and light”. Much of her programme is inspired by folk song and cabaret and includes Britten’s On This Island – a setting of five poems by W.H. Auden – as well as Walton’s Three Songs after Edith Sitwell and other songs by Korngold, Poulenc and Bartok. Sholto Kynoch accompanies.
Oxford Alternative Orchestra
MOZART: DON GIOVANNI
St John’s Auditorium
Thursday, 8pm
Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.ticketsoxford.com
If you haven’t yet managed to get to see this updated version of Mozart’s classic opera, this is your last chance – but be quick, because tickets are selling fast. Transported to southern Italy at the end of the Second World War, this production explores the themes of liberty, status and gender politics. Directed by Jonny Danciger, with musical direction by Hannah Schneider.
SJE International Piano Series
ERIC LU
St John the Evangelist
Friday, 7.30pm
Tickets: www.sje-oxford.org
Last time Eric Lu stepped onto the concert platform at the SJE he started with a distinct disadvantage – he was a late replacement for popular Spanish pianist Javier Perianes. It didn’t take long, though, for this rising star to grab the audience’s attention, and any disappointment over Perianes’ indisposition was soon forgotten. Now this 22-year-old, award-winning pianist is back at the SJE in his own right with a programme of music by Chopin, Schubert and Brahms. An extraordinary talent, he is definitely worth catching if you can.
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL
Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford
Saturday, 7.30pm & Sunday, 3pm
Tickets: 01865 980980 or www.oxfordphil.com
Actor Jeremy Irons opens the first chamber music concert of the Beethoven Festival with a recital of T.S. Eliot’s masterful Four Quartets, which were inspired by Beethoven’s music. The soloists of the Oxford Philharmonic will then play Beethoven’s String Quartet No.15 in A minor Op.132, an expansive and moving work that explores the themes of humanity and suffering. The following afternoon, the award-winning Takacs Quartet –
Formed in Hungary 45 years ago – plays three of Beethoven’s string quartets from his early, middle and later years – the No. 6 in B flat major Op.18 No.6, No.16 in F major Op.135 and No. 9 in C major Op.59 No.3, ‘Razumovsky’.
Summertown Choral Society
BACH: MASS IN B MINOR
St Andrew’s Church, Linton Road
Saturday, 7.30pm
Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.ticketsoxford.com
Duncan Saunderson conducts this 120-strong choir in Bach’s magnificent choral masterpiece, written a year before his death in 1750 and widely acclaimed as one of the greatest achievements of the classical music repertoire. Soloists for this performance are Helen and Kate Ashby (sopranos), Robin Blaze (countertenor), Tom Kelly (tenor) and Tom Lowen (bass). They are joined by the Oxford-based baroque orchestra Instruments of Time and Truth.
Oxford Coffee Concerts
JONIAN ILIAS-KADESHA (VIOLIN) &
FILIPPO GORINI (PIANO)
Holywell Music Room, Oxford
Sunday, 11.15am
Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.ticketsoxford.com
With “the appearance of a mad professor and the energetic playing style of a Paganini”, according to the Western Mail, violinist Jonian Ilias-Kadesha seems guaranteed to provide a lively recital in this latest in the Oxford Coffee Concerts series. He is accompanied by the prize-winning Italian pianist Filippo Gorini in two masterworks of the chamber repertoire – Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No.8 in G major Op.30 No.3 and Brahms’ Violin Sonata No.3 in D minor Op.108. As always, pre-concert coffee is available at The Vaults and Garden Café and The King’s Arms.
Abbey Chamber Concerts
ACE TRIO
St Nicolas Church, Abingdon
Sunday, 3pm
Tickets: www.abbeychamberconcerts.org or on the door
Enjoy a relaxing Sunday afternoon concert with this hour-long concert, in which the Ace Trio – Andrew Blankfield (piano), Emma Chamberlain (cello) and Claire Parkin (violin) – will perform Beethoven’s Trio Op.1 No.2 and Rachmaninov’s Elegiac Trio No.1. Free tea and coffee will be available after the concert, and there will be an opportunity to talk to the musicians.
Iffley Music Society
GIACOMO SUSANI, CLASSICAL GUITAR
Church Hall, Iffley Village
Sunday, 4pm
Tickets: https://iffleymusicsociety.org.uk
Italian guitar sensation Giacomo Susani opens the Iffley Music Society’s 2020 season with an exciting programme of music including Frescobaldi Toccata and La Frescobalda, Sor Grand Solo Op.14, Scarlatti Two Sonatas, Barrios Mazurka Apassionata, Pasieczny Tate Sonata (dedicated to Susani) and one of Susani’s own pieces, The Blue Madeleine. The concert is followed by the society’s winter party.
NICOLA LISLE
