Recital: Duologues

Rachel Podger and Alex Rolton are playing at the de Jager Auditorium, Trinity College on Sunday 25 October, opening Trinity's 2026-27 chamber music series. It's a violin and cello duo, and the programme is built around the two of them playing together rather than taking turns. Music Events Director John Summers describes the whole series as a celebration of the breadth and expressive power of chamber music across more than three centuries, and this is the first date of the lot.

The set is drawn from their album Duologues, which looks back at 18th-century domestic music-making — the kind of thing played in homes rather than concert halls, where duos let the players converse spontaneously across different moods. They'll play JS Bach's Inventions 1-8, Arcangelo Corelli's Violin sonata op 5 no 5 in G minor, two duets from Bach's Clavier-Übung III, Bach's Inventions 9-15, and Corelli's Violin sonata op 5 no 12 ('La Follia').

Podger is a baroque violinist who's been around the scene for a while: she was the first woman to receive the Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize in 2015, was named Gramophone Artist of the Year in 2018, and picked up the 2023 BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Year and Instrumental Award for her album Tutta Sola. She also founded the Brecon Baroque Festival and is Principal Guest Director of Tafelmusik. Rolton started on the cello at age five, won every internal cello competition at the Royal Academy of Music, and has been a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra since 2018.

The recital starts at 2.30pm, with doors open from 2.00pm, and runs for an hour and a half without an interval. Tickets are £27, with a student price of £7, plus a £1.50 booking fee per transaction. The venue is the de Jager Auditorium at Trinity College, Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH.