5a. Freundliche Vision: Strauss's Life in Song. Part One: From Cradle to Celebrity

15 October 2022, 11:00am - 12:15pm

This event is in two parts. One ticket gives you access to both parts.
5a: 11.00am - 12.15pm, Part 1: From Cradle to Celebrity
5b: 3.15pm - 4.30pm, Part 2: From Fame to Grave

Please book your ticket on this page. It will be valid for both Part 1 and Part 2

Please note a change of artists to the Festival brochure.

Throughout his long life, Richard Strauss was the picture of bourgeois ease. Born in Munich, his childhood home was filled with music, thanks to his horn playing father and his mother’s sister, a singer, who would often perform at family gatherings. Her repertoire included Strauss’s very first compositions, setting words by leading Romantics, as well as the poetry of his father’s Bavarian contemporaries. Cutting the apron strings, Strauss’s literary taste developed in richer directions as his songs similarly morphed to reveal a psychological acuity that would pave his way to the stage. When operatic fame arrived, song composition waned. Nonetheless, Strauss would return to Lied in later life, revealing both a sharp tongue and, occasionally, compliance with the Third Reich. But it was during that final chapter that Strauss also rediscovered a more private world, recalling the familial comfort of childhood and the memories of his wife’s soprano voice. Written in the aftermath of World War II, the composer’s last works were acts of contrition that could arguably only find voice in song. Cultural historian Gavin Plumley sets Strauss’s Lied output in the context of his life and times.

Gavin is joined by four exceptional Oxford Lieder Young Artists. They illustrate the event with performances of Strauss songs from the early, famous 'Zueignung' right through to songs from the Four Last Songs.

Between Parts One and Two of this event, soprano Sarah Wegener and pianist Götz Payer give a recital of Strauss songs, not to be missed. Full details here.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

All our seating is unreserved; please arrive in good time to take your seat. For groups of more than 10, please phone or email the box office to book your tickets.

TICKETS AND PASSES

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Tickets will be issued as eTickets by default. Printed tickets are available on request, for an additional fee.