They came together to perform in The Schumann Project in the year that marked the 160th anniversary of Robert Schumann’s death and the 15th year of the Festival.
The sixteen day, city wide festival saw some of the world’s most sought-after artists and a new generation of emerging stars take to the stage in 21 venues hosting the 100 events all over the city for an exciting fortnight of song recitals, piano and chamber music recitals, choral works, study events, films, readings and masterclasses taking place from Friday 14 to Saturday 29 October.
Over 220 performers, wordsmiths and artists from around the world, plus an additional 180 local schoolchildren from across Oxford who were involved in this year’s Schools Project, took part. The Festival attracted audiences of over 12,000 people over the sixteen-day period and were supported by 19 members of Oxford Lieder Festival staff and volunteers.
The Oxford Lieder Festival has established itself as one of the most prestigious celebrations of song in Europe. It presents a feast of song in Oxford each October which is produced and curated by its founder and Artistic Director Sholto Kynoch.
Following in the success of the 2014 Festival, The Schubert Project, which won a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society award, and was singled out for its ‘breadth, depth and audacity of programming’, and the 2015 Festival ‘Singing Words: Poets and their Songs’, this year’s Festival explored the life and music of Robert Schumann.
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OXFORD LIEDER FESTIVAL 2015
16 - 31 October, info: www.oxfordlieder.co.uk
picture by Robert Piwko / www.robertpiwko.co.uk
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All of Schumann’s varied works (over 300 songs) were performed during the Festival, alongside the 29 songs of his wife Clara Schumann, supported by an exciting schedule of additional events that placed Schumann and his music against a rich cultural backdrop.
Highlights of this year’s Festival included one of the world’s leading song duos Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber who are universally hailed for their profound insight and thrilling musicianship. Their concert on the opening night of the Festival at the Sheldonian Theatre included Schumann’s Kerner Lieder, one of his most popular song cycles.
Other highpoints of the Festival were international star soprano Juliane Banse and one of the world’s pre-eminent singers Anne Sofie von Otter, both of whom made their Oxford debuts.
World-famous tenor Christoph Prégardien performed Schumann’s first cycle of Heine poetry as well as his settings of Han Christian Anderson at St John the Evangelist Church, baritone Roderick Williams performed to a sold-out Holywell Music Room in one of the Festival’s popular lunchtime recitals, and three specially commissioned performances of Duet by music-theatre company Re:Sound performed to audiences in the Wadham Room of The King’s Arms also thrilled the Festival’s keen audiences.
The support for the Oxford Lieder Festival and the excitement at delving into one of the greatest song writers was palpable this year. A wider than ever range of venues were used for the 100 events with Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre, the Holywell Music Room (Europe’s oldest concert hall), the recently restored Ashmolean Museum and the Bodleian Library being amongst the 21 venues hosting performances.
Sholto Kynoch, Artistic Director of Oxford Lieder Festival, said: “We were thrilled once again to fill Oxford with song through the city’s fifteenth Oxford Lieder Festival. Working with some amazing nationally and internationally renowned artists, exceptional emerging musicians and numerous cultural partners, the event brought huge numbers of participants and new audiences to the city, with total attendance exceeding 12,000 and over 400 people taking an active part in the Festival.
“Building on previous festivals and successes, including last year’s Royal Philharmonic Society Award, Oxford continues to establish itself as an important global destination and international hub for song lovers.
Since the very first Oxford Lieder Festival in 2002, I have been both delighted and inspired by the energy and commitment from everybody involved that goes into bringing our spectacular programme of song to life. The Lieder Festival is now widely regarded as the pre-eminent festival of its kind in the UK and one of the world’s leading song festivals.
“We are strongly committed to bringing the great song artists of our time to Oxford, while providing a platform for the best new talent and opportunities for wide-reaching learning and participation.
“We continue to expand our reach, deepen engagement in the Festival and grow our audiences year on year. We can’t wait to get started on the planning for next year’s festival!”
The 2017 Oxford Lieder Festival, ‘The Last of the Romantics’, runs from 13 to 28 October and promises to be a thrilling ride through Vienna at the turn of the last century, featuring the complete works of Gustav Mahler.
