Charivari Agréable
EARLY MUSIC BY CANDLELIGHT SUMMER FESTIVAL
Exeter College Chapel, Friday and Sunday, 8pm
Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.ticketsoxford.com
Start your weekend by indulging in a wonderful candlelit concert featuring Pergolesi’s Stabat Materand Scarlatti’s Salve Regina, with Olwen Lintern-Smith (soprano), Roderick Morris (countertenor), Sam Kennedy (baroque violin), Edmund Taylor (baroque violin) and Kah-Ming Ng (chamber organ). Then on Sunday you can head back to Exeter College for Queen Anne’s Solace, which features music by Dowland, Lawes, Tomkins, Purcell and Handel, all of whom enjoyed the patronage of one of two royal Annes – Anne of Denmark, consort of James I, and her great-grandaughter, Queen Anne. There are only a few dates left now in this year’s festival, so don’t miss out! Visit www.charivari.co.ukfor full details.
Oxford Proms
HALL OF FAME CLASSICS
University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Saturday, 7.30pm
Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.ticketsoxford.com
Enjoy an evening of classical music favourites in the lovely atmospheric setting of the University Church. Two Beethoven masterpieces – the Egmont Overture and Romance in F for violin and orchestra – are complemented by Finzi’s Five Bagatelles and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No.2 in F Major. With Maki Sekiya (piano), Catriona Scott (clarinet), Edmund Jones (violin) and the Oxford Proms Orchestra, conducted by Catherine Underwood.
Oxford Coffee Concerts
HEATH STRING QUARTET
Holywell Music Room, Sunday, 11.15am
Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.ticketsoxford.com
A regular visitor to Oxford, the Heath Quartet – Oliver Heath (violin), Sara Wolstenholme (violin), Gary Pomeroy (viola) and Chris Murray (cello) – is one of the UK’s most acclaimed young ensembles. Formed in 2002 at the Royal Northern College of Music, the Quartet has been the recipient of several prizes and awards, and regularly attracts rave reviews. Come and hear them play two Beethoven string quartets, the No.13 in B flat major Op.130and the No.2 in G major Op.18. Don’t forget The Vaults and Garden Café is open from 9am and The King’s Arms from 10.30am for a pre-concert coffee.
Jack Gibbons, Piano
CHOPIN AND FRIENDS
Holywell Music Room, Sunday, 8pm
Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.ticketsoxford.com
Discover Chopin’s Paris of the 1830s and 40s in this intimate musical portrait, which includes a generous helping of Chopin pieces from that period seasoned with works by friends and contemporaries such as Liszt, Alkan, Schumann, Gottschalk and more. Jack brings his 32ndpiano series to a finish on Wednesday with his traditional Farewell Piano Party – expect favourites by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Gershwin and some of his own compositions, as well as audience requests.
By Nicola Lisle
