Eros in Oxford: Brahms, Janáček and gypsies

By Roy Westbrook, 18 October 2018

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“In Daumer’s erotic verses kisses burn and bosoms heave, and Brahms’ more prudish friends disapproved”

Reviewed at Holywell Music Room, Oxford on 16 October 2018

Janáček, Ríkadla (Nursery Rhymes)

Brahms, 8 Lieder und Gesänge, Op.57

Brahms, Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy songs), Op.103

Janáček, The Diary of One Who Disappeared

Toby Spence, Tenor

Dorottya Láng, Soprano

Victoria Soames Samek, Clarinet

Julius Drake, Piano

Singers from the Royal Academy of Music

Bumpy love songs from Roderick Williams and Julius Drake at PCMS

Cameron Kelsall, 12th February

A fully produced performance of Brahms' Die schӧne Magelone in Philadelphia, complete with on-stage narrator and bespoke drawings, proved less than the sum of its parts.

**111

Fauré Song Gala a showcase for the composer's mélodies

Mark Valencia, 13th September

Fauré was the finest of French songwriters. Stéphane Degout and Véronique Gens shine in a full-length evening in a packed Wigmore Hall.

****1

Gerald Finley and Julius Drake bring Night and Day to London

Mark Valencia, 24th November

Heinrich Heine settings by Schumann and Schubert are counter-balanced by Duparc and Cole Porter in a Temple Song recital reflecting on night and day.

*****

A scorching Diary of One Who Disappeared at Janáček Brno Festival

Gianmarco Segato, 12th November

Tenor Nicky Spence and mezzo Václava Krejčí Housková thrill with a theatrical take on Janáček's The Diary of One Who Disappeared with pianist Julius Drake.

****1

Alice Coote and Stuart Jackson bring Mahler to Middle Temple Hall

Mark Valencia, 11th November

Pianist Julius Drake and his two singers probe the audience’s collective soul with the depth of their Mahler performances.

*****

An intense Winterreise from Fleur Barron and Julius Drake

Edward Sava-Segal, 27th February

A young mezzo and a seasoned pianist performed a rendition of Winterreise that sounded very fresh indeed.

***11

More reviews...

Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.

Eros in Oxford: Brahms, Janáček and gypsies at the Lieder Festival