Oxford International Song Festival: Art:Song – Images, Words, Music

Oxford International Song Festival (formerly Oxford Lieder Festival):13 to 28 October 2023 Art:Song – Images, Words, Music The Oxford International Song Festival (13 to 28 October 2023) presents a thrilling fortnight of intrigue,…

Patricia Petibon blurs musical and theatrical boundaries at Oxford Lieder

Back in August, when I spoke to Sholto Kynoch about this year’s Oxford Lieder Festival, he told me that one of the things he was most looking forward to, as…

Revisiting familar forms and formats at Oxford Leider

If regular concertgoers thought that they knew what to expect from a lute-song recital or a lieder programme, the second evening of this year’s Oxford Lieder Festival would certainly have…

Battle Cry: Helen Charlston and Toby Carr at Oxford Lieder

The ‘Battle Cry’ presented by mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and theorbist Toby Carr in this early- evening Oxford Lieder recital in the Sheldonian Theatre was a distinctively female one, the programme…

Oxford Lieder Festival: Opening Night camaraderie and conviviality

Friendship in Song is the theme of the 21st Oxford Lieder Festival, and the Opening Night recital in the Sheldonian Theatre certainly offered an evening of camaraderie and conviviality, as…

Friendship in Song: An Intimate Art – the 21st Oxford Lieder Festival

Music is a profound means of forming conversations, connections and communities.  From the salon to the soirée, artists and friends have gathered to share music and ideas, politics and passions. …

dream.risk.sing: elevating women’s voices at the Oxford Lieder Festival

British-Australian soprano Samantha Crawford and American pianist Lana Bode describe dream.risk.sing as a ‘love letter to women of all ages … a programme for women and for those who love…

everything grows extravagantly: an impressive new song-cycle by Cheryl Frances-Hoad at the Oxford Lieder Festival

The Oxford Lieder Festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year; the Oxford Botanic Garden marks its 400th birthday.  Cheryl Frances-Hoad, in her third and final year as Oxford Lieder’s…

Ian Bostridge and Imogen Cooper travel ‘Over Silent Lands’ at the Oxford Lieder Festival

From Nordic songs to Nature’s spirit: after a day which focused on the music of Wilhelm Stenhammar and his Scandinavian compatriots, the fourth day of the Oxford Lieder Festival turned…

Scandinavian Landscapes at the Oxford Lieder Festival

The third day of this year’s Oxford Lieder Festival, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary, focused on Scandinavian song, in particular the music of Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871–1927).  This self-taught Swedish…