Oxford Festival of the Arts invites you to a snapshot of this allure to enter this lush soundworld with none other than mezzo-soprano, Dame Sarah Connolly, and pianist Joseph Middleton, exploring a pas de trois of exchanges with the music of Gustav Mahler, Alexander von Zemlinsky and Alma Mahler herself – the femme fatale in Vienna enchanting society and artists like Walter Gropius, Oscar Kokoschka, Zemlinksy, and ultimately, of course, marrying Gustav Mahler.

Born in County Durham, Sarah Connolly studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, of which she is now a Fellow. She was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours, having previously been made a CBE in the 2010 New Year’s Honours. In 2020 she was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society in recognition of her outstanding services to music. Highlights in her 2023/24 season include Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the LSO/Sir Antonio Pappano; Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis; Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Collon and orchestral songs by Alma Mahler-Werfel with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/John Storgårds.

Joseph Middleton is Director of Leeds Lieder, Musician-in-Residence at Pembroke College Cambridge and a Professor and Fellow at his alma mater, The Royal Academy of Music. Joseph enjoys partnerships with many internationally-established singers. In 2023/24 he returns to the Life Victoria Festival Barcelona, where he was last season’s Artist-in-Residence, with Miah Persson and Dame Sarah Connolly. Further appearances with Dame Sarah include performances in Seville, Amsterdam, and at the Wigmore Hall.

Programme:

Samuel Barber Three Songs Op. 10
Erollyn Wallen Night Thoughts
Gustav Mahler Kindertotenlieder

— Interval —

Claude Debussy Chanson de Bilitis
Alexander von Zemlinsky Sechs Lieder auf Gedichte von Maurice Maeterlinck
Alma Mahler Die stille Stadt | Laue Sommernacht | Bei dir ist es Traut [from Fünf Lieder] Kurt Weill My Ship | Speak Low | Trouble Man | Je ne t’aime pas

£5 – £30