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Four Last Songs

Four Last Songs
Past event – We are no longer taking bookings for this event.

Four Last Songs

27 Nov 2025 | 19:30 | Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street

We regret to announce that Lucy Crowe has had to withdraw from this performance due to seasonal illness. We are so grateful that the internationally-renowned soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn is stepping in to sing the same programme.

Wagner Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, WWV 96
Strauss Oboe Concerto in D major, TrV 292
Wagner Prelude to Act III from ‘Lohengrin’, WWV 75
Strauss Four Last Songs, TrV 296

Elizabeth Llewellyn soprano
Gordon Hunt oboe
Marios Papadopoulos conductor

In 1948, Richard Strauss sensed the end was nigh. Germany lay in ruins, its major opera houses destroyed by war. As his attempts to ignite a cultural rebirth in his homeland proved futile, Strauss turned to music. His final goodbye was a series of four iconic orchestral songs that, in the words of David Bowie, ‘ache with love for a life quietly fading.’ Elizabeth Llewellyn joins the Orchestra for a performance of Strauss’s profoundly moving musical epitaph alongside the Orchestra’s Solo Oboe Gordon Hunt performing Strauss’s tender Oboe Concerto written just a few years earlier.

The Sheldonian Theatre is a unique space to experience live music. To see an interactive map of the theatre click here.

Four Last Songs

27 Nov 2025

Tickets: £18, £30, £40, £54
(Students from £5)
Duration: 120 min
Venue: Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street
Thursday 27th November, 2025 – 19:30
From £18
(Students from £5)

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