In Memoriam: Strauss and Brahms from the Soloists of the Oxford Philharmonic

By Jason Weir, 12 November 2017

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Reviewed at Holywell Music Room, Oxford on 11 November 2017

Brahms, String Sextet no. 2 in G major, Op.36

Webern, Langsamer Satz

Strauss R., Metamorphosen

The Strings of the Oxford Philharmonic

Lost for words: Asmik Grigorian excels at Wigmore Hall

Roy Westbrook, 26th May

A first half of vocalises gives way to all Strauss after the interval as the Lithuanian superstar soprano helps Wigmore Hall celebrate its 125th anniversary.

****1

A self-congratulatory Cecilia Bartoli show at Salzburg Whitsun

Laura Servidei, 24th May

This year’s Salzburg Whitsun Festival gala, Ciao, bella ciao, features Cecilia Bartoli in a highly personalised musical programme structured as an autobiographical journey, unfolding as a blend of concert and self-portrait.

Sumptuous Sheffield Chamber Music Festival finale

Phil Parker, 23rd May

Ensemble 360 and soprano Claire Booth test to the limits the definition of ‘chamber music’ in this richly orchestral closing concert of the 2026 Sheffield Chamber Music Festival.

****1

More gold than corn: María Dueñas plays Korngold at the Barbican

Mark Pullinger, 22nd May

The young Spanish violinist proves an ardent advocate for a work originally dismissed as a “Hollywood Concerto” as the BBC Symphony Orchestra closes its Barbican season.

****1

Intimate colossus: Daniil Trifonov with the Rotterdam Philharmonic

Max Lima, 21st May

Late Brahms, early Schoenberg: under Lahav Shani and the Rotterdam Philharmonic draw tenderness from two monumental scores.

****1

The ears have it: Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas on the Cutty Sark

Mark Valencia, 21st May

Come away fellow sailors, your anchors be weighing! All board the Cutty Sark for a semi-staging of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists.

****1

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Jason Weir

Jason completed a PhD in music history at Oxford University in 2023. His research focused on the development of suburban folk and popular music in late 19th-century Vienna alongside a social and political history of noise. Jason gained his MMus degree from King’s College London, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. He has taught and written about the history of the symphony in the 19th and 20th centuries, musical modernism in Vienna, and broader cultural trends in Europe around 1900. Jason is currently lead violinist for Sinfonia Tamesa and guest led Kensington Symphony Orchestra in their 2015-16 season.