Sunday Afternoon with Schubert

Join us for a wonderful afternoon with Franz Schubert, the peerless composer of songs, with dinner and transport included.

This year we are offering a varied and all-inclusive Sunday afternoon with two concerts given by internationally renowned artists in beautiful central-Oxford venues, a delicious dinner, and return travel from Oxford Parkway station.

A single ticket covers return transport, both concerts and dinner*, offering convenience and an overall discount of at least £10. All seating at the Holywell Music Room is unreserved. Seating at SJE is unreserved within areas, and you have the choice of booking areas A or B.

*two courses, drinks not included

• 4.15pm: Collection from Oxford Parkway station

• 5pm: Schubert recital given by soprano Birgid Steinberger and pianist Julius Drake, in the Holywell Music Room

• 6.15pm: Two-course dinner at the Oxford Blue pub

• 7.30pm: Schubert recital given by tenor Werner Güra and pianist Christoph Berner, at St John the Evangelist (SJE)

• c.9.15pm: Return to Oxford Parkway station
   

There is ample parking at Oxford Parkway station, where an Oxford Lieder team member will meet and direct you. Avoiding central-Oxford traffic and parking, transport will be via coach or shared taxi service direct to the Holywell Music Room. After the first concert, you have the option of walking (c.15 minutes) or being driven to the Oxford Blue pub, which is adjacent to SJE, where the second concert takes place. The coach will depart from outside SJE 15 minutes after the end of the second concert.

A single ticket covers return transport, both concerts and dinner (two courses, drinks not included). All seating at the Holywell Music Room is unreserved. Seating at SJE is unreserved within areas, and you have the choice of booking areas A or B.

CONCERT ONE (click here for full programme):

Birgid Steinberger is an immensely renowned soprano, known for her many roles in leading opera houses around the world, including the Vienna Staatsoper and Vienna Volksoper (she has been a ‘Kammersängerin’, Austria’s highest musical honour, since 2009). She is equally known as an artist with a profound understanding of the song repertoire.

With pianist Julius Drake, described as the ‘collaborative pianist nonpareil’ by The New Yorker, she performs a selection of Schubert songs that echo the sounds of 1820s Vienna. They include such favourite as ‘Heidenröslein’, ‘An Silvia’ and ‘Die Forelle’, among others. The concert is in the exquisite Holywell Music Room, Europe’s oldest purpose-built concert hall.

DINNER:

The Oxford Blue pub has an excellent kitchen, and offers a two-course set meal for concert-goers each evening when the Festival is at SJE. This ensures a relaxed and tasty meal, a stone’s throw from our second concert.

CONCERT TWO (click here for full programme):

German tenor Werner Güra is also one of the world’s best-known singers, and he is making a rare UK appearance for his first performance at the Festival. He and acclaimed pianist Christoph Berner have won countless awards for their CDs together and this promises to be one of the absolute highlights of 2022.

Their programme includes songs from Schubert’s last years, at the peak of his powers. They also jump back to a song from Schubert’s youth: the epic ballad ‘Der Taucher’ (‘The Diver’). This dramatic poem by Schiller is a thrilling medieval tale of a daring young lad trying to win the princess’s hand by diving into the whirlpool to retrieve the king’s goblet! Extraordinary poetry and music, in the hands of two master storytellers. Not a concert to be missed!