The Viennese Salon, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

Soprano Dame Felicity Lott is one of Britain’s greatest singers, with a special affinity for the songs and opera of the early twentieth century. Felicity Lott’s Strauss and lieder recordings are especially highly regarded as amongst the finest laid down to tape. What a delight then that she will join the City of London Sinfonia in the Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse – one the capital’s most intimate and beauteous spaces – for Sunday afternoon recital replicating the sound and atmosphere of the imperial Viennese salon. Kafe und kuchen will be available for visitors, as will a free waltzing lesson.

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The Sinfonia, under chief conductor Michael Collins, will open with Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel, a fluid orchestral tone poem that begins with merry pranking before taking a wrenching turn to the scaffold. In Franz Hasenohrl’s version, its rich orchestration is incredibly rendered by just five instruments. It will be followed by Webern’s arrangement of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony, one of the defining pieces of modernist music. The programme continues with two Bach arrangements set by composer David Matthews (A Vision of the Sea), and an arrangement of Berg’s Four Pieces by his brother Colin Matthews (Night Rides), led by Michael Collins’ clarinet. The afternoon then closes with sections from Strauss’ Capriccio, his final opera and a delightful piece of discursive comedy.