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Donald Macleod traces Weber to London for the premiere of his opera Oberon at Covent Garden. But exhaustion from travelling and the stress of the new production combined with the pollution in London, caused Weber's health to deteriorate and he died aged 39.

In 1844, 18 years after Weber's death, Richard Wagner oversaw the transfer of Weber's coffin from London to its final resting place in Dresden. Year later he recalled: "In my youth, I had learned to love music by way of my admiration of Weber's genius; and the news of his death came as a terrible blow to me. To have come in contact with him again, so to speak, and after so many years by this second funeral, was an event that stirred me to the very depths of my being."

Oberon Overture
Orchestra of Bayerischen Rundfunks
Rafael Kubelik, conductor

Oberon (Kavatine: Trauer mein Herz)
Birgitt Nilsson, singer
Orchestra of Bayerischen Rundfunks
Rafael Kubelik, conductor

Piano Sonata No 4
Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Oberon (Final 2 movements)
Orchestra of Bayerischen Rundfunks
Rafael Kubelik, conductor

Producer: Rosie Boulton for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales.