The Schubert project
Oxford-Lieder: The Schubert Project, bringing Schubert’s Vienna to Oxford, 10 October-1 November 2014
Oxford-Lieder: The Schubert Project, bringing Schubert’s Vienna to Oxford, 10 October-1 November 2014
This year’s
Oxford-Lieder Festival was dedicated to the life and times and works of Franz Schubert.
The original aim was to perform all his 650 songs for single voice plus his many
other vocal works but grew to encompass much music for piano and chamber groups.
Entitled The Schubert Project: bringing
Schubert’s Vienna to Oxford, the Festival brought to Oxford a formidable
array of the most renowned Lieder singers and their pianists from around the
world as well as less well-established performers and promising newcomers. This
was thus more than more than an Oxford Festival, more than a Lieder Festival –
including much of Schubert’s best instrumental and chamber music - and - more
than a Schubert Festival – paying tribute to the poets who inspired him. It was
an International Cultural Festival
With two, three or more events every day for three weeks, it was impossible to attend everything, so this review contains a personal selection of the proceedings, trying to give an overview and to single out some of the highlights. If I were to attempt to review every event I should soon run out of superlatives as well as of space! I attended 37 out of 65 musical events; I cannot even report all of these. With this programme of concerts, I was not able to attend any of the masterclasses given by the singers and pianists. These formed a mini-festival on their own.
On the opening day, I avoided the discomfort and inappropriate venue of the Sheldonian Theatre. Unable to attend also the Bring and Sing concert, a masterclass by Ian Partridge and the Schools’ Project Concert (presenting a song cycle composed by children from local schools). With a lecture Cultural Politics in Schubert’s Vienna, 10 October set off with a Big Bang the main streams of the Festival: amateur performance, instruction of the young and young professionals, the life and times of the composer and, above all, performances by professional singers and their pianists. The lecture given by Gavin Plumley, who also edited the Festival brochure, was an essential introduction to the cultural climate in Vienna in the in the years following the defeat of Napoleon and the Congress of 1815. He pointed out the irony of attempting to bring Schubert’s Vienna to Oxford since it was in reality the Vienna of Metternich who ruled Austria like the German Democratic Republic of our day, banning all things not Austrian with heavy censorship and police spies (hopefully not presaging a UKIP future). Plumley also touched on Schubert’s early death resulting from a diagnosis of syphilis and conjectures about his sexuality which usually say more about the sexual orientation or disorientation of the writer than about him.
With two, three or more events every day for three weeks, it was impossible to attend everything, so this review contains a personal selection of the proceedings, trying to give an overview and to single out some of the highlights. If I were to attempt to review every event I should soon run out of superlatives as well as of space! I attended 37 out of 65 musical events; I cannot even report all of these. With this programme of concerts, I was not able to attend any of the masterclasses given by the singers and pianists. These formed a mini-festival on their own.
On the opening day, I avoided the discomfort and inappropriate venue of the Sheldonian Theatre. Unable to attend also the Bring and Sing concert, a masterclass by Ian Partridge and the Schools’ Project Concert (presenting a song cycle composed by children from local schools). With a lecture Cultural Politics in Schubert’s Vienna, 10 October set off with a Big Bang the main streams of the Festival: amateur performance, instruction of the young and young professionals, the life and times of the composer and, above all, performances by professional singers and their pianists. The lecture given by Gavin Plumley, who also edited the Festival brochure, was an essential introduction to the cultural climate in Vienna in the in the years following the defeat of Napoleon and the Congress of 1815. He pointed out the irony of attempting to bring Schubert’s Vienna to Oxford since it was in reality the Vienna of Metternich who ruled Austria like the German Democratic Republic of our day, banning all things not Austrian with heavy censorship and police spies (hopefully not presaging a UKIP future). Plumley also touched on Schubert’s early death resulting from a diagnosis of syphilis and conjectures about his sexuality which usually say more about the sexual orientation or disorientation of the writer than about him.
Anna Lucia and Christoph Richter, Kynoch. Photo Julian Hall
This lecture led off a series of five lecture recitals Life and Times with Graham Johnson, the present doyen of Lieder pianists, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject and instant recall. He presented a year by year account of Schubert’s compositions in relation to his health and his social life, illustrated by examples sung by leading singers. These lectures formed the backbone of the Festival. Branching out from this were concerts devoted to songs inspired by different poets.
The two great song cycles, Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise settings of verses by Wilhelm Müller, were entrusted to tenors Christoph Prégardien with Roger Vignolles and Ian Bostridge with Thomas Adès. A performance of Winterreise was given also by Oxford Lieder’s Patron Sir Thomas Allen. Prégardien has a beautifully modulated voice with divine top notes. He gave a deeply moving account of the cycle, accompanied by Roger Vignoles. I use the word ‘accompanied’ advisedly. This was not a performance displaying a great rapport between pianist and singer. On the other hand, Winterreise must be rated as one of the outstanding performances of the Festival which I have singled out as one of the ‘Festival Peaks’, a fitting tribute to Schubert’s genius and an emotional experience for the audience. With his light touch and minimal use of pedal, Adès made the large Steinway sound like a new instrument of Schubert’s Vienna as no other pianist did. Bostridge was in great form and the duo performed as one. Also by Wilhelm Müller, a second Peak was Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock) performed by a twenty-four year old newcomer to Oxford, Anna Lucia Richter, elegant, with an amazing voice and platform manner, supported by her uncle Christoph Richter on the cello (instead of the usual clarinet) and Kynoch. It did not seem at all incongruous that the male narrator was sung (as usual) by a soprano; the glorious sound, welcoming spring, swept all before it.
Schubert’s oeuvre is an anthology of German romantic poetry from about 1770 until his death, with Goethe, his idol, and Mayrhofer, an early friend and housemate, the main contributors. Few published poets of note from Schubert’s lifetime are not included, though some represented by only one or two poems. Some poetry from other eras and countries is included, for example Sir Walter Scott and James Macpherson supposed ‘translations’ of epics from the fictitious Gaelic ‘Ossian’. These last settings formed one of the most fascinating recitals of the Festival. One of the important features in this programme arrangement was that one was able to hear well-known songs in the context of the group of poems to which they belonged. For example Ellen’s songs among settings from Scott’s The Lady of the Lake possibly in answer to Rossini’s operatic version, La Donna del Lago (this can be seen Live from the Met in HD in cinemas next March).
***
In the galaxy of singers performing the six-hundred and fifty songs, many were known from their international reputations and from previous Lieder Festivals, others were new to Oxford. The unfamiliarity of many of the songs was underlined by the number of singers with the music in front of them. Regular attenders at previous Lieder Festivals have followed their careers since student days. Maciek O’Shea, who sang at the first Lieder Festival in 2002, here sang Mayrhofer and Schober. Mark Padmore made his mark on Oxford audiences with a memorable Dichterliebe in Wolfson College in an early Chamber Music Festival and John Mark Ainsley and Mark Stone are remembered for their first Lieder Festival performances. Stephan Loges’ career has been followed closely here since he first appeared as a recent gradiuate, a last-minute substitute at a lunch-time concert in St Michael’s Church. Now, one of the world-leading baritones, his voice continues to gain depth and warmth. A more recent arrival is the local Roderick Williams who has had a meteoric rise to the top echelons. The impressive bass-baritone Robert Holl performed the last of the Ossian epics The Death of Ossian (a remarkable feat of memory but much more). It is interesting to compare the platform manners of these singers. Some get their effect by stillness and minimal gesture, commanding audience concentration: Williams, Padmore, Loges; others by using their whole being to convey emotion: Wolfgang Holzmair, Jame Gilchrist, Holl and Bostridge the foremost examples. Both approaches are equally valid but the danger for the latter group is to become mannered. Several were prone to this, a notable exception was Holzmair whose gestures always appear fresh and spontaneous. Holzmair sang two programmes, Songs of the Night and the Stars with Kynoch and Songs of Evening and Twilight with Graham Johnson, some well-known others less familiar, most rather gloomy! The latter contained the three rarely heard Geistlichen Lieder by Friedrich von Hardenberg, written under the pseudonym ‘Novalis’, a deeply personal mystic view of divine love, impressively performed. This was a very serious recital and one yearned for the relief of another Forelle as encore! Light relief followed the next day with a Schubert Surprise. This was in two parts: first the seven songs not included in previous programmes sung by Byran Benner and Daniel Norman, followed by two young duos from the Masterclasses and the Young Artist Platform – Nina Kanter (soprano) with James Cheung (an exceptionally good pianist) and Olivia Warterman (mezzo) with Finneggan Downie-Dear. The penultimate concert of the Festival, given by another perfect duo, baritone Christoph Pohl with Marcelo Amaral. Their programme was watery songs by Goethe, Schiller and others. The high watermark was the setting of Schiller’s long narrative poem Der Taucher (The Diver), an extraordinary story given an extraordinary performance, meriting a position among the Festival Peaks. The second half of the final concert was devoted to Schubert’s last vocal works. The Heine songs from the posthumous Schwanengesang were assigned to the powerful bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu.
The two great song cycles, Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise settings of verses by Wilhelm Müller, were entrusted to tenors Christoph Prégardien with Roger Vignolles and Ian Bostridge with Thomas Adès. A performance of Winterreise was given also by Oxford Lieder’s Patron Sir Thomas Allen. Prégardien has a beautifully modulated voice with divine top notes. He gave a deeply moving account of the cycle, accompanied by Roger Vignoles. I use the word ‘accompanied’ advisedly. This was not a performance displaying a great rapport between pianist and singer. On the other hand, Winterreise must be rated as one of the outstanding performances of the Festival which I have singled out as one of the ‘Festival Peaks’, a fitting tribute to Schubert’s genius and an emotional experience for the audience. With his light touch and minimal use of pedal, Adès made the large Steinway sound like a new instrument of Schubert’s Vienna as no other pianist did. Bostridge was in great form and the duo performed as one. Also by Wilhelm Müller, a second Peak was Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock) performed by a twenty-four year old newcomer to Oxford, Anna Lucia Richter, elegant, with an amazing voice and platform manner, supported by her uncle Christoph Richter on the cello (instead of the usual clarinet) and Kynoch. It did not seem at all incongruous that the male narrator was sung (as usual) by a soprano; the glorious sound, welcoming spring, swept all before it.
Schubert’s oeuvre is an anthology of German romantic poetry from about 1770 until his death, with Goethe, his idol, and Mayrhofer, an early friend and housemate, the main contributors. Few published poets of note from Schubert’s lifetime are not included, though some represented by only one or two poems. Some poetry from other eras and countries is included, for example Sir Walter Scott and James Macpherson supposed ‘translations’ of epics from the fictitious Gaelic ‘Ossian’. These last settings formed one of the most fascinating recitals of the Festival. One of the important features in this programme arrangement was that one was able to hear well-known songs in the context of the group of poems to which they belonged. For example Ellen’s songs among settings from Scott’s The Lady of the Lake possibly in answer to Rossini’s operatic version, La Donna del Lago (this can be seen Live from the Met in HD in cinemas next March).
***
In the galaxy of singers performing the six-hundred and fifty songs, many were known from their international reputations and from previous Lieder Festivals, others were new to Oxford. The unfamiliarity of many of the songs was underlined by the number of singers with the music in front of them. Regular attenders at previous Lieder Festivals have followed their careers since student days. Maciek O’Shea, who sang at the first Lieder Festival in 2002, here sang Mayrhofer and Schober. Mark Padmore made his mark on Oxford audiences with a memorable Dichterliebe in Wolfson College in an early Chamber Music Festival and John Mark Ainsley and Mark Stone are remembered for their first Lieder Festival performances. Stephan Loges’ career has been followed closely here since he first appeared as a recent gradiuate, a last-minute substitute at a lunch-time concert in St Michael’s Church. Now, one of the world-leading baritones, his voice continues to gain depth and warmth. A more recent arrival is the local Roderick Williams who has had a meteoric rise to the top echelons. The impressive bass-baritone Robert Holl performed the last of the Ossian epics The Death of Ossian (a remarkable feat of memory but much more). It is interesting to compare the platform manners of these singers. Some get their effect by stillness and minimal gesture, commanding audience concentration: Williams, Padmore, Loges; others by using their whole being to convey emotion: Wolfgang Holzmair, Jame Gilchrist, Holl and Bostridge the foremost examples. Both approaches are equally valid but the danger for the latter group is to become mannered. Several were prone to this, a notable exception was Holzmair whose gestures always appear fresh and spontaneous. Holzmair sang two programmes, Songs of the Night and the Stars with Kynoch and Songs of Evening and Twilight with Graham Johnson, some well-known others less familiar, most rather gloomy! The latter contained the three rarely heard Geistlichen Lieder by Friedrich von Hardenberg, written under the pseudonym ‘Novalis’, a deeply personal mystic view of divine love, impressively performed. This was a very serious recital and one yearned for the relief of another Forelle as encore! Light relief followed the next day with a Schubert Surprise. This was in two parts: first the seven songs not included in previous programmes sung by Byran Benner and Daniel Norman, followed by two young duos from the Masterclasses and the Young Artist Platform – Nina Kanter (soprano) with James Cheung (an exceptionally good pianist) and Olivia Warterman (mezzo) with Finneggan Downie-Dear. The penultimate concert of the Festival, given by another perfect duo, baritone Christoph Pohl with Marcelo Amaral. Their programme was watery songs by Goethe, Schiller and others. The high watermark was the setting of Schiller’s long narrative poem Der Taucher (The Diver), an extraordinary story given an extraordinary performance, meriting a position among the Festival Peaks. The second half of the final concert was devoted to Schubert’s last vocal works. The Heine songs from the posthumous Schwanengesang were assigned to the powerful bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu.
Sarah Walker, Kynoch, Schubert's Nightingales
Photo Julian Hall
Of the
ladies, there stood out Birgid Steinberger and Geraldine McGreevy, in the ‘Life
and Times’. Sophie Daneman appeared several times demonstrating her versatility
but in mainly gloomy songs, supressing her natural ebullience. But the
outstanding solo recital was that of Angelica Kirchschlager. Although with a
cold, she held the audience in her hand with amazing dynamic range with a
divine low utterly transparent pianissimo. This was a gem of a concert by a
perfectly matched duo with pianist James Sherlock. The programme was largely of
well-known favourites, starting with An
Sylvia and ending with An die Musik and with Die Forelle as an encore. A pair of younger singers, clearly with great
operatic careers ahead, Katherine Broderick (who once compelled my full attention
in a BBC lunchtime recital when still unknown) and Katherine Watson, with Susie
Allen, who introduced us to the marvellous but little known settings of
Claudius. The occupant of Oxford Lieder Young
Artist Platform Rozanna Madylus sang the first of the Ossian settings Loda’s Ghost with appropriate depth and
spookiness. Also intriguing were the lugubrious poems of Friedrich von Mathison,
sung by Malin Christensson and Joshua
Elliott with Simon Lepper which could be described as ‘Death of the Maiden and
others’, in anticipation of the performance by the Doric String Quartet. But
Kirchschlager demonstrated that the younger generation still have far to go in
compelling an audience’s attention. The closing concert contained another
performance of Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (Schubert’s
last commission), this time sung by Kate Royal with clarinettist Mark van der
Wiel and Kynoch. Apart from demonstrating the superiority of the more natural
clarinet version, the performance no way displaced the earlier from its peak
position. The first half of the closing concert included three songs by von
Collin, beautifully performed by young mezzo Bethan Langford and a setting of
Psalm 23 and other works sung by Sarah Walker CBE (long-time lynch-pin of the
Oxford Lieder Mastercourses) with an elegantly clad group of twelve ‘Schubert’s
Nightingales’.
Of the pianists, apart from Adès, Julius Drake was outstanding. Whether partnering Lieder or accompanying Ensemble 45 or in piano duets, adapting his style fluently to the experience of his singers and pacing the pauses between songs with perfect timing in every section of the programme. Others made their mark: James Sherlock (above) and Michael Dussek who held together a programme Schubert’s Circle which introduced the poets von Bruchmann, Kenner, von Schlechta and others, otherwise of little interest.
***
The Festival instrumental and chamber music gave us two further Festival Peaks. The first, a late evening performance by Imogen Cooper of the last B flat Piano Sonata on a dramatically floodlit stage (unfortunately with the lights shining directly into the eyes of some of the audience, kindly reseated on chairs by the organising staff). This demanded complete concentration and recalled Cooper’s recital with Holzmair, the summit of the 2013 Festival. The second was the performance of Death and the Maiden String Quartet by the young, marvellous Doric Quartet, with an intense, integrated sound and balance. In another concert they played the C major Quintet with the additional cello of John Myerscough. This was another fine performance but it had to compete with the memory of that at the recent Oxford Chamber Music Festival by Priya Mitchell and friends where each instrument’s contribution was individually defined.
The programme encompassed Piano Duets and Trios, String Sonatas, Quartets, Quintets and the Octet. Natasha Loges in a lecture on Schubert’s Creative Process tried to convince us of the superiority of the Grand Duo for piano duet of which the Bodleian Library holds the manuscript. A far greater work, the F minor Fantasia was performed by Bengt Forsberg and Julius Drake. This is an elusive work where one can only strive for perfection. Here they started too slow but played the recapitulation faster, a good tempo for the final fugue. There was a good performance of the Sonata for Appeggione played on the cello by Christoph Richter, Anna Lucia’s Uncle. I did not attend the concert by the Aurora Orchestra, playing the fifth Symphony and accompanying songs.
***
In retrospect the absolute success of the Schubert Project seems even more amazing than in anticipation and led to a massive new familiarity with Schubert songs. A rough canvas of familiarity indicated that of the six hundred and fifty, a casual listener guessed about twenty to thirty, myself, an amateur pianist, about sixty, an amateur singer between a hundred and a hundred and twenty, professional singers guessed between one hundred and forty and two hundred and a professional pianist about two hundred. Even if these are all under-estimates (as they probably are), it still means that many more than half had to be learned specially for the occasion – a tremendous feat of organisation and persuasion. But there was so much more, not reported here: a Viennese day at the Ashmolean Museum with a guided tour of relevant art, a three-part movie at the Phoenix Picturehouse, a new play by Iain Burnside, and sacred music in Churches and Chapels around the City.
An immense debt of gratitude and congratulation are owed to Artistic Director and pianist Sholto Kynoch and his team including Hilary Forsyth, Peter Burrows and in particular the new Administrator, the unflappable Taya Smith.
I conclude with a reminder of the ‘Five Peaks’: Winterreise with Ian Bostridge and Thomas Adès, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen with Anna Lucia Richter, Christoph Richter and Kynoch, Schiller’s Der Taucher performed by Christoph Pohl and Marcelo Amaral, Piano Sonata in B flat played by Imogen Cooper, and Death and the Maiden played by the Doric String Quartet.
3 November 2014
Of the pianists, apart from Adès, Julius Drake was outstanding. Whether partnering Lieder or accompanying Ensemble 45 or in piano duets, adapting his style fluently to the experience of his singers and pacing the pauses between songs with perfect timing in every section of the programme. Others made their mark: James Sherlock (above) and Michael Dussek who held together a programme Schubert’s Circle which introduced the poets von Bruchmann, Kenner, von Schlechta and others, otherwise of little interest.
***
The Festival instrumental and chamber music gave us two further Festival Peaks. The first, a late evening performance by Imogen Cooper of the last B flat Piano Sonata on a dramatically floodlit stage (unfortunately with the lights shining directly into the eyes of some of the audience, kindly reseated on chairs by the organising staff). This demanded complete concentration and recalled Cooper’s recital with Holzmair, the summit of the 2013 Festival. The second was the performance of Death and the Maiden String Quartet by the young, marvellous Doric Quartet, with an intense, integrated sound and balance. In another concert they played the C major Quintet with the additional cello of John Myerscough. This was another fine performance but it had to compete with the memory of that at the recent Oxford Chamber Music Festival by Priya Mitchell and friends where each instrument’s contribution was individually defined.
The programme encompassed Piano Duets and Trios, String Sonatas, Quartets, Quintets and the Octet. Natasha Loges in a lecture on Schubert’s Creative Process tried to convince us of the superiority of the Grand Duo for piano duet of which the Bodleian Library holds the manuscript. A far greater work, the F minor Fantasia was performed by Bengt Forsberg and Julius Drake. This is an elusive work where one can only strive for perfection. Here they started too slow but played the recapitulation faster, a good tempo for the final fugue. There was a good performance of the Sonata for Appeggione played on the cello by Christoph Richter, Anna Lucia’s Uncle. I did not attend the concert by the Aurora Orchestra, playing the fifth Symphony and accompanying songs.
***
In retrospect the absolute success of the Schubert Project seems even more amazing than in anticipation and led to a massive new familiarity with Schubert songs. A rough canvas of familiarity indicated that of the six hundred and fifty, a casual listener guessed about twenty to thirty, myself, an amateur pianist, about sixty, an amateur singer between a hundred and a hundred and twenty, professional singers guessed between one hundred and forty and two hundred and a professional pianist about two hundred. Even if these are all under-estimates (as they probably are), it still means that many more than half had to be learned specially for the occasion – a tremendous feat of organisation and persuasion. But there was so much more, not reported here: a Viennese day at the Ashmolean Museum with a guided tour of relevant art, a three-part movie at the Phoenix Picturehouse, a new play by Iain Burnside, and sacred music in Churches and Chapels around the City.
An immense debt of gratitude and congratulation are owed to Artistic Director and pianist Sholto Kynoch and his team including Hilary Forsyth, Peter Burrows and in particular the new Administrator, the unflappable Taya Smith.
I conclude with a reminder of the ‘Five Peaks’: Winterreise with Ian Bostridge and Thomas Adès, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen with Anna Lucia Richter, Christoph Richter and Kynoch, Schiller’s Der Taucher performed by Christoph Pohl and Marcelo Amaral, Piano Sonata in B flat played by Imogen Cooper, and Death and the Maiden played by the Doric String Quartet.
3 November 2014