Four Last Songs
Four Last Songs
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.
27 Nov 2025
Tickets: £18, £30, £40, £54
(Students from £5)
Duration: 120 min
Venue: Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street
(Students from £5)
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Jul 25 2026 – 14:30
The remarkably talented participants of the Oxford Piano Festival receive masterclasses from some of the world’s leading authorities on piano.
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Jul 25 2026 – 19:30
The towering pianistic talent that is Steven Osborne opens the festival at Christ Church Cathedral with two standout masterpieces of the Viennese school.
Learn More
Steven Osborne Masterclass
Jul 26 2026 – 09:30
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