2023 - 24
Friday 10th November 2023, Sheldonian Theatre
Conducted by Toby Purser
Shostakovich Symphony No.11, The Year 1905
Ravel La Valse
Grant Still Festive Overture
A review of this concert can be found here:
'Both great beauty and forewarning' - OUO MT23 Review (oums.co.uk)
'Both great beauty and forewarning' - OUO MT23 Review
It was a biting November evening. As crowds of concertgoers piled into the Sheldonian Theatre, the scene was set for Oxford University Orchestra’s Michaelmas Term concert, an evening in which the macabre lingered immanently beneath the surface. The programme spoke to the relentless barbarism of war, from the dark undertones of Grant Still’s ostensibly naïve Festive Overture (1944) to the wartime dystopia of Ravel’s La Valse (1920). The centrepiece was Shostakovich’s Symphony No.11 (1957) – an emotionally charged and uncompromising work which stands as one of the most haunting expressions of human suffering within the symphonic canon.
The first half featured a crisp and exuberant account of the Grant Still. Whilst a slight outlier in the programme, the juxtaposition of idyllic flute soli against the fantastically mechanical and precise percussion performance marred the sense of utopia sufficiently. Expanding upon this theme, the orchestra articulated a kaleidoscopic interpretation of La Valse, driven by the luxuriously dark tones of the bass clarinet and bassoons, whilst the strings’ Hollywood-levels of shimmer evoked the music’s old-world, cinematic elegance. The interpretation also demonstrated a keen awareness of the wartime implications of Ravel’s tumultuous and frenetic ‘choreographic poem’ — the brass section punctuating the performance with unabashed moments of intense dissonance. Despite the potential for some greater rhythmic precision in the Sheldonian's acoustic, Purser led the orchestra in a nuanced and authoritative account of the work.
During the interval, as the impending winter chill began to settle around the theatre and winds outside picked up, the strings ventured a passionless, unflinchingly grim introduction to the Shostakovich, setting the tone for his portrayal of the 1905 Russian Revolution. The hushed atmosphere was punctuated by incisive and unerring calls from Tommaso Rusconi (principal horn) and Guy Barwell (principal trumpet), before the eruption into the inexorable potency of the second movement. In the ‘Bloody Sunday’ Fugue the fiery articulation of the violas and cellos was palpably intense.
The emotional apex of the performance unfolded in the third movement — ‘In Memoriam.’ Purser expertly navigated the emotional trajectory of the music, guiding the orchestra from meditative viola melody to profoundly moving crescendo led by brooding horns and swelling strings. Answered by gentle mourning figures in the bassoon (Conrad Spencer), the despair of the movement was painfully sincere. The final movement — marked by unyielding horn punctuations and a poignant cor anglais solo (Lucy Keeley) — saw the orchestra maintain the same level of rhythmic precision exhibited in the second. Purser’s assertive direction emphasised both angularity of melody and rhythmic drive.
Perhaps most moving was the reflection the concert invited on the dangers of unchecked power, resonating with the current geopolitical climate: unjust war ensnaring innocent civilians, and hegemonic political forces curtailing the rights of some of our most vulnerable citizens. Suffused with both great beauty and forewarning, the evening served as a sobering reminder of the brutality of our own age.
OUSinf, Friday 17th November 2023, University Church
Love, the Sorcerer
An evening of Spanish and Latin American music by chamber orchestra
Conducted by Kilian Meißner
Featuring [Singer's name?]
De Falla El Amor Brujo
Piazzolla Tangazo
Lena Frank Elegia Andina
Albeníz Tango in D
Oxford University Sinfonietta (OUSinf) is the premier chamber orchestra of Oxford University and this was its first concert having joined with OUO - the flagship symphony orchestra - in an exciting co-organisation. The two orchestras share the very best instrumentalists that the university has to offer and OUSinf also selects its conductor from the student body in a very competitive process.
This term, OUSinf performed an evening of Spanish and Latin American music for chamber orchestra at the University Church. The concert title “Love, The Sorcerer” is a direct translation of Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo which will feature in the programme. Alongside this, the orchestra will perform Gabriela Lena Frank’s Peruvian-inspired Elegía Andina, and Tangazo by the Argentinian Astor Piazzolla. The concert will be finished with the “striking” Tango in D by Isaac Albeníz which has been described as “the most famous tango in concert music”.
Saturday 10th February 2024, Sheldonian Theatre
Conducted by Principal Guest Conductor, Natalia Luis-Bassa
Richard Strauss An Alpine Symphony
Gabriela Ortiz Kauyumari
Lili Boulanger D'Un Soir Triste
The centrepiece of our programme this term was Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony. This is a truly epic work with a strong narrative and great impact from the enlarged wind and brass sections. The piece tells the story of an eleven hour experience climbing an alpine mountain along with its beauty and trepidation, akin to an adventure that Strauss himself experienced as a boy. Strauss’ work is a real challenge for orchestras with OUO last tackling his work in 2018, also led by Natalia.
To complete our programme, we chose two pieces by women written about 100 years apart from each other. Lili Boulanger wrote D’Un Soir Triste in 1918, not long before her death at the age of just 24, still affected by the loss of her father, and as Paris was being bombarded by German artillery. It is a compellingly devastating piece which distinctly contrasts the hallucinogenic and spiritual journey of the Huichol people of Mexico depicted in Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari which completes our programme. Kauyumari was premiered by Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic in 2021 to widespread critical acclaim. Whilst the subjects contained within this programme vary widely, they are joined by the vivid imagery they create.
OUSinf, Saturday 17th February 2024, Sheldonian Theatre
Conducted by Kilian Meißner
Various La Guirlande de Campra
Francis Poulenc L'Histoire de Babar, Le Petit Elephant
Lili Boulanger Marche Gaie
Mélanie Bonis Suite en Forme de Valses
OUSinf performed an evening of French music for chamber orchestra at the Sheldonian Theatre. The concert featured some of France's best composers of the 19th and 20th Centuries: Mélanie Bonis, Lili Boulanger, and Francis Poulenc.
Friday 17th May 2024, Sheldonian Theatre
Conducted by Ed Liebrecht
Featuring the Oxford University Jazz Orchestra (OUJO)
OUO will joined forces with the exceptional OUJO and our 2023-34 Early Career Conductor, Ed Liebrecht (biography) for An Evening of Orchestral Jazz. This exciting collaboration was perfectly crafted to bring the audience an enjoyable evening of orchestral jazz, combining film score highlights from 20th century America and a selection of big band favourites written by Gershwin, Sinatra, and others.
The highlight of this concert was Gershwin’s jazz-influenced symphonic poem An American in Paris which combines the influences of American Blues and French composers such as Debussy and Poulenc. This piece is absolutely synonymous with the orchestral jazz genre and was the subject of an extensive dance sequence in the Oscar-winning 1951 film of the same name. The Oscar-winning theme continues with the Suite from Korngold’s 1938 score of The Adventures of Robin Hood, the first time that an Oscar had been awarded directly to a composer.
Accompanying this fantastic trio of works, the concert was interspersed by favourites of the big band repertoire, but in a way that you may never have heard them before as they are accompanied by symphony orchestra. OUJO have an excellent reputation for this kind of music throughout Oxford and further afield, we’re delighted that they joined us for this concert with their incredible vocal soloists showcasing audience favourites from George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra such as Let's Face the Music and Dance and New York, New York.
On Saturday 1st June 2024 at Christ Church Cathedral, OUSinf teamed up with our new 2024-25 conductor James Norton for an evening of chamber repertoire by Mozart (Cosi Fan Tutte Overture), Ravel (Le Tombeau de Couperin), and Farrenc (Symphony No.1). This concert also featured the winner of our 2024 composition competition, Tsuru by Tom Burkill!
