Planet Hugill

Siren songs & serenades: Ben Goldscheider, Laurence Kilsby & London Mozart Players in Anna Clyne premiere, Britten & Mendelssohn

2026-05-09T11:51:00.007+01:00

Ben Goldscheider

Anna Clyne: Sirens, Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings, Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1 in C minor; Ben Goldscheider, Laurence Kilsby, London Mozart Players, Jonathan Bloxham; Church of St Martin in the Fields
Reviewed 8 May 2026

Anna Clyne's new piece for Ben Goldscheider successfully seduce with its siren-like lyrical horn writing, whilst Goldscheider and Kilsby proved superb partnership in Britten's serenade. The programme completed with Bloxham bringing out the youthful exuberance in Mendelssohn's symphony

For London Mozart Players' (LMP) final concert in its 2025/26 season at the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields on Friday 8 May 2026, Jonathan Bloxham conducted LMP in the premiere of Anna Clyne's Sirens (co-commissioned by LMP) for horn and strings with soloist Ben Goldscheider, Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with Laurence Kilsby and Goldscheider, and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 1.

Whilst Anna Clyne's music has never been unknown in the UK (she based in the USA), she does seem to be having something of a moment here. Announced as the CBSO's first composer-in-residence for the 2026/27 season with a new Viola Concerto and other works planned including a recording with saxophonist Jess Gilham, the National Youth Orchestra launched their 2026 season with Clyne's Shimmer, she received an Ivor for Best Choral Composition last year, the Sixteen's 2025 Choral Pilgrimage featured the premiere of Clyne's Orbits, and her The Years was at the BBC Proms.

LMP's concert was part of a short tour. The previous evening, Goldscheider, Kilsby and LMP had performed Britten's Serenada in Farnham, then Goldscheider and LMP return to Clyne's Sirens tonight (9 May 2026) at Newbury Spring Festival.

Clyne's inspiration for Sirens was the mythological Greek creature, half-woman, half-bird, that lured sailors and the first movement began with a distinctly hypnotic lyrical horn line over sustained strings, seductive yet thoughtful and considered. As the underlying string texture became more mobile, the endless melody of Goldscheider's horn took on improvisatory freedom. A vividly vigorous middle section featured energetic scale passages for the horn before things quieted and returned to the opening material and the horn descended to nothing. The faster middle movement featured some striking string writing with Goldscheider alternating between a lyrical line, faster moving yet engaging, and edgier stopped passages with bent notes. As energy and urgency increased the sense of anxiety developed leading to a sudden ending as the horn spiralled upwards. The final movement combined energy and urgency with vivid timbres including snapped pizzicatos with a more lyrical middle section before the music returned to urgent intensity and a rather drunken waltz. The ending was vivid and tumultuous, yet all calms down to nothing.

Whilst Clyne has worked with Goldscheider to push the boundaries of horn technique in the work, there was a fundamental sense of lyricism threading through the horn writing. Goldscheider's tone quality and sense of line brought out the siren-like aspects of the piece and Clyne definitely underpinned his part with some imaginative string writing. Clyne's harmonies remained largely tonal meaning that the work has a surprisingly approachable feel to it yet with imaginative touches.

Laurence Kilsby (Photo: Karoline Heller)

Bloxham, Goldscheider and LMP were then joined by tenor Laurence Kilsby for Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. Goldscheider proved an excellent partner here, always alert and sympathetic to Kilsby's solo tenor. For his part, Kilsby brought richness of tone and beauty of line to the piece, yet his tenor has surprising depth and strength so that he and Goldscheider's horn were equal partners. Kilsby impressed with the way he approached the piece, combining lyrical beauty with musical vividness.

The words that Britten set in the Serenade are hardly comforting yet there was something so seductive in Kilsby's performance that the result seemed almost siren-like in its combination of beauty and danger.

After Goldscheider's fine Prologue with robust playing alternating with moments of lyricism, Kilsby brought a remarkable sense of legato to Pastoral his plangent tenor almost oozing. The speed was quite steady, with moments of real strength along with a vivid attention to detail. We didn't have the printed words, yet Kilsby's diction was both excellent and expressive. The vivid string playing in Nocturne drew a heroic edge to Kilsby's voice and his duets with Goldscheider's horn saw them very much as equals, creating something thrilling, set off by Kilsby's combination of vibrant line, meticulous detail and plangent tone. Elegy combined Goldscheider's sense of colour, and texture in the horn writing, displaying fine control, with Kilsby's focused, centred and rather dark tone. In Dirge, Kilsby was positively compelling, and the performance developed real power and urgency with Kilsby's plangent tenor and Goldscheider's thrilling horn playing over rhythmically vivid strings. Hymn, the final duet between tenor and horn, contrasted the rich yet mobile horn-line with the wit and verbally dextrous tenor line. Sonnet was tender yet intense with ardent lyricism, leading to Goldscheider's fabulous off-stage Epilogue.

Mendelssohn completed his Symphony No. 1 in 1824 when he was just 15. The work came after his 12 string symphonies, but the new piece used full woodwind, brass and timpani so instead of being no. 13, it became the first of his mature symphonies. Whilst it had a private premiere that year, it had to wait until 1827 for its public premiere, performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. The symphony was dedicated to the Philharmonic Society, who performed the London premiere in 1829 with Mendelssohn conducting. He orchestrated the scherzo from his Octet Op. 20 as an alternative third movement for this performance.

The first movement erupted with exuberant energy and the stormy excitement rather felt like the beginning of an overture. For all the engaging energy from the youthful composer, there were lyrical and intimate moments. The second movement began with a tender lyricism with throbbing passion underneath and the music developed both in excitement and passion. The menuetto was vibrant and robust, the orchestra bringing a strong sound to the piece which contrasted with the elegance and mystery of the middle section. There was an urgent energy with constant forward motion to the opening of the finale, though we had more lyrical episodes, a sense of strenuousness pervaded the development section leading to an urgent conclusion.

The orchestra successfully brought out the symphony's combination of youthful exuberance and sophistication as the teenage Mendelssohn, following his idol Beethoven's example, found his way to a more mature sense of expression. Jonathan Bloxham encouraged his players to bring out both sides to the work, exuberance balanced by serious lyricism.

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Elsewhere on this blog

Authenticity in song: I chat to pianist James Baillieu about his new role on the Britten Pears Arts Young Artist Programme, performing with soprano Lise Davidsen & the future of song - interview
Tales of Love & Loss: virtuosity from the Royal Opera's Jette Parker Young Artists in a satisfying & unusual triple bill - opera review
Classicism, humour, energy: Trio Bohémo and the first complete recording of Reicha’s trios - feature
Youthful promise: four young artists in the Musicians' Company concerts at Wigmore Hall - concert review
Das Klagende Lied: Adrian Partington on the fascination and mysteries of Mahler's astonishing early symphonic work which he conducts at this year's Cheltenham Music Festival - interview
The fires of passion, immediacy & intimacy: Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt in Lera Auerbach, Golijov, Janacek & Mahler at Wigmore Hall - concert review
Transatlantic vision: American conductor Irene Messoloras on working with her British choir, Meridian, on their latest disc Finding Light - interview
Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden - opera review
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Authenticity in song: I chat to pianist James Baillieu about his new role on the Britten Pears Arts Young Artist Programme, performing with soprano Lise Davidsen & the future of song

2026-05-09T09:28:00.002+01:00

James Baillieu (Photo: David Ruano)

From this year, pianist James Baillieu and conductor/composer Ryan Wigglesworth begin a three-year tenure as Associate Directors of the Britten Pears Arts Young Artist Programme, with both men being significantly involved in this year's Aldeburgh Festival which runs from 12 to 26 June 2026.

For James the appointment is a big honour. He comments that Britten Pears Arts is a wonderful organisation, very collaborative and very collegial. As he sees it, he has been brought on board to take the legacy of Britten and Pears forward, to keep their ideals at the heart of the training but have the teaching and training for the Young Artists responding to what the music world is like today. They are moving away from a 'one size fits all' approach to seeing what each Young Artist needs.

There will continue to be a Festival Academy, a week of masterclasses during the festival. But they will be adding performance psychology, career building, health and wellness and movement, the additional skills that are generally not taught in conservatoires. Typically, the masterclasses have been voice and piano and James wants to add instrumental duos as James feels that there is not a lot of focus on these. For young song pianists opportunities are not as widely available as when James was a young pianist, and they need to develop versatility by having instrumental repertoire too. James wants to look at the versatility of the young musicians and consider what skills they need to help them get working.

Complementary to this, Ryan Wigglesworth's focus will be orchestral and composition. James is also working on strategic partnerships with organisations with similar ideals so that Britten Pears Arts can amplify the exposure that the Young Artists get, helping them get the opportunities they need.

James Baillieu & Benjamin Appl at the Aldeburgh Festival in 2025 (Photo: Britten Pears Arts)

James took part in the Britten Pears Arts Young Artists scheme when he was in his second year of post-graduate study. He went twice, with a week on Schubert song and a week on Strauss and Mahler. At the time, the scheme was repertoire based, and it became an important part of his artistic training. There were also a lot of opportunities as he performed as a Young Artist at the Festival. But it was also one of the few places you could meet singers and artists from far away. A lot became friends and collaborators, useful and inspirational, so that he still plays with some today. He points out that today is different and the current Young Artists are in a world that is more connected because of smartphones.

Also for James, Aldeburgh is a unique place. There is a timelessness to the landscape that inspires you, enabling you to get away from the real world. And at the Festival, the audience is well-trained; they are not scared and will come to everything. It is a loyal audience, trusting the Festival and the audience is super-supportive of the Young Artists, feeling invested in them. James finds it unique to have an audience in such a focused way.

At Aldeburgh, the Festival Academy is during the second week of the Festival, but James will be around for the three full weeks. For the Festival Academy, each pianist works with two singers. Whilst duos are encouraged to apply, they also match up pianists and singers. This provides an opportunity to meet new artists which James sees as important for song pianists. Sometimes partnerships work well and sometimes not. But he points out that this happens in life, and it is good experience for artists to have to produce something with someone with whom they are not on the same page.

At this year's Festival, James will be doing an all-Schubert programme with soprano Lise Davidsen, and she will also be giving a masterclass. James will also be joining violinist Maria Włoszczowska for a recital that re-creates the one given by Yehudi Menuhin and Benjamin Britten in Bergen-Belsen in July 1945. Playing the recital meant a lot to both Menuhin and Britten and the programmes are quite meaningful. James and Maria studies together, and they performed quite a lot together as students and Young Artists. Maria is Artistic Partner of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Director and Leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. James calls her a 'force of nature', saying she is such a galvanising musician, and he is thrilled that her career is taking off.

James Baillieu & Lise Davidsen at the Metropolitan Opera, New York

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen's recent performances have included the role of Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Met in New York and at the Liceu in Barcelona, and she will make her international role debut as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre in March 2027, as part of the Salzburg Easter Festival’s 60th anniversary programme. For James, it is a thrill to hear her voice live, and he comments on its superhuman nature. He and Lise have performed in various recitals over the last decade. Often these have taken place in large concert halls which requires a different way of playing for him. Some years ago they performed a programme of songs by Berg, Strauss and Schubert [see my review of their 2023 Wigmore Hall concert], and it was the Schubert songs that stood out. They found that the simplicity of Schubert's piano accompaniments works well with her voice, whereas in Richard Strauss's songs you rather miss the full orchestra. So they decided on an all-Schubert programme. For James, Lise has her own way of performing Schubert which is very authentic and incredibly genuine. He admits that her style of Schubert singing might not be to the taste of all aficionados, but he grew up listening to Jessye Norman singing lieder.

This year, Lise and James's all-Schubert programme will take them to Spain, Bergen, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall and Aldeburgh. James finds it great that someone like Lise does recitals like this. She has sold out the large auditorium at Carnegie Hall, showing people that art song is amazing. It is exciting for him too, as he is playing in auditoriums larger than usual. In 2023, they did a recital the Met in New York which he describes as a wonderful experience. Decca released it on disc recently. There was a huge audience, and they made Lise and James feel like rock stars. It was a really joyous occasion with the audience on their side.

When I chatted to James he was just back from Japan where he was performing with tenor David Butt Philip, and he has Schubert's three song-cycles to look forward to with Benjamin Appl. This summer is devoted to Aldeburgh then Verbier then Edinburgh with a mix of performing and teaching. He smiles and comments that the next few months are nicely full.

This year has been a big year of touring for James with around two weeks of each month taken up, but he tries to make tours to the US and to Asia in larger patches. He loves the counterpoint of teaching at Britten Pears and at the Royal Academy of Music (where he is Head of the Ensemble Piano department), finding it grounding to have this constant in his life. He regards himself as luck to give great concerts with great people as well as having opportunities to help the amazing talent of the next generation to create meaningful careers.

He feels optimistic about the future of song and finds a huge enthusiasm for song in Young Artists. There is so much interest in song in conservatoires with interest in a different way of doing things. What attracts young singers is the authenticity: in song, a Young Artist shows themself as an authentic artist rather than being a character. In world increasingly dominated by AI, the song recital is free of it for an hour, there is no app that makes the experience better.

Never miss out on future posts by following us

The blog is free, but I'd be delighted if you were to show your appreciation by buying me a coffee.

Elsewhere on this blog

Tales of Love & Loss: virtuosity from the Royal Opera's Jette Parker Young Artists in a satisfying & unusual triple bill - opera review
Classicism, humour, energy: Trio Bohémo and the first complete recording of Reicha’s trios - feature
Youthful promise: four young artists in the Musicians' Company concerts at Wigmore Hall - concert review
Das Klagende Lied: Adrian Partington on the fascination and mysteries of Mahler's astonishing early symphonic work which he conducts at this year's Cheltenham Music Festival - interview
The fires of passion, immediacy & intimacy: Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt in Lera Auerbach, Golijov, Janacek & Mahler at Wigmore Hall - concert review
Transatlantic vision: American conductor Irene Messoloras on working with her British choir, Meridian, on their latest disc Finding Light - interview
Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden - opera review
America's 250th, 50 years since Britten's death, Miles Davis's centenary, anniversaries for Weber's Oberon & Varèse's Amériques: BBC Proms 2026 - feature
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3in1: Christ lag in TodesBanden by Pachelbel, Kuhnau and JS Bach with artistic and literary responses

2026-05-08T12:41:00.001+01:00

The Parnassus Ensemble is a young Early Music collective founded in 2022 by Oscar Holch, Xeniga Gogu and Victor García García as result of participating in several young artist programmes throughout the UK and Europe including: the Monteverdi Apprenticeship Scheme with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and at the Collegium Vocale Gent Academy with Philippe Herreweghe. They take their name from Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum (1725), a seminal book on counterpoint that was revered by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn.

On 22 May 2026, Oscar Holch conducts them in a concert at St Stephen's Church, Gloucester Road, where they reflect on Martin Luther's hymn, Christ lag in Todes Banden.

Entitled 3 in 1, the event features cantatas by Pachelbel, Kuhnau and J.S Bach all based on Luther's hymn. Kuhnau was, of course, Bach's predecessor as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, whilst Bach's cantata is one of his earliest surviving and probably dates from 1707, well before he was in Leipzig.

But more than this, the concert is giving the music visual expression as the painter Jérémie Queyras will respond in real time on three large canvasses, acting as an evolving visual backdrop behind the ensemble for the drama of the music to unfold. In addition to the artistic responses, selected contemporary texts will be woven throughout the performance that reflect on the themes found in the texts of the cantatas.

Following the London performance the ensemble is presenting 3 in 1 at Purbeck Art Weeks on the 24 May, making their UK festival debut.

Further details from EventBrite.

Five days in the Welsh Marches: Presteigne Festival 2026 with Michael Zev Gordon in residence & celebrating Cecilia McDowall, Sally Beamish and Adrian Williams

2026-05-08T12:15:00.006+01:00

The Presteigne Festival returns with five eventful days from 27 to 31 August 2026 in the Radnorshire town. This year, composer Michael Zev Gordon is in residence, but the festival is also celebrating milestone birthdays for Cecilia McDowall, Sally Beamish and Adrian Williams.

The first evening features Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale with George Vass conducting the Presteigne Festival Ensemble, with Jonathan Gunthorpe (narrator), Alexander Knox (the soldier), Francesca Isherwood (the devil) directed by Ruth Evans. The evening also features Cecilia McDowall's The Night Trumpeter and the premiere of a work by Lili Harris, with Rowan Pierce (soprano) and Imogen Whitehead (trumpet).

Horn player Ben Goldscheider is joined by Fenella Humphreys (violin) and Clare Hammond (piano) for an evening of trios by Michael Zev Gordon, Huw Watkins, and Lennox Berkeley plus music by Ravel and the young Dutch composer Mathilde Wantenaar. And Fenella Humphreys returns with pianist Jâms Coleman for music by Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Amy Beach, Prokofiev, Sally Beamish, Lili Boulanger and the premiere of an intriguing joint work by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Electra Perivolaris, Lynne Plowman, Claire Victoria Roberts and Mathilde Wantenaar.

Saturday evening sees Goldscheider, Pierce, the Festival Orchestra and George Vass joined by James Gilchrist (tenor), and the Choir of King's College, London for music by Adrian Williams, Grace Williams, Michael Zev Gordon, Cecilia McDowall and the premiere of a new work by Cameron Biles-Liddell.

James Gilchrist and Jâms Coleman join forces for a song recital focusing on Britten's Winter Words alongside music by Adrian Williams and Michael Zev Gordon. At Leominster Priory, Joseph Fort conducts the Choir of King's College, London in a programme that mixes Imogen and Gustav Holst with Elizabeth Poston and Judith Weir plus works by Daniel Soley, and Olivia Sparkhall. The festival concludes with music for violin and harp (Fenella Humphreys and Sally Price) by Arvo Pärt, Saint-Saens, Lennox Berkeley and more, then a festal finale featuring music by Elgar, Dorothy Howell, Mathilde Wantenaar, Gabriel Jackson and Bartok.

Composers in the festival also include Natalie Roe, Thea Musgrave, Henriëtte Bosmans, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Robert Peate, whilst daytime recitals also feature solo cello, solo guitar, piano and string quartet.

Away from the music there are talks and walks along with open studios and exhibitions.

Full details from the festival website.

Classicism, humour, energy: Trio Bohémo and the first complete recording of Reicha’s trios

2026-05-07T07:29:00.000+01:00

Anton Reicha was a Bohemia-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalized French composer, who was a friend and contemporary of Beethoven. Whilst he wrote in a wide variety of genres he is mainly remembered for his substantial early contributions to the wind quintet literature and his role as teacher of pupils including Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz and César Franck.

Now the Trio Bohémo presents the first complete modern recording of Anton Reicha’s Six Piano Trios, Op. 101 on Supraphon. After more than two centuries, these works have finally been captured with distinction by Trio Bohémo in Vienna with the recording team of Andrew Keener and Oscar Torres. Just before the recording’s release, we talked with the trio’s cellist Kristina Vocetková.

Kristina, what led Trio Bohémo to the music of Anton Reicha and to his lesser-known but exceptionally inventive piano trios?

It was Supraphon’s chief executive producer Matouš Vlčinský who came up with the idea of recording Anton Reicha’s works for piano trio. Because we have long felt a great affinity for Classicism, and because our studies at the European Chamber Music Academy involved intensive training in the field of informed interpretation for that period, the idea appealed to us instantly.

Reicha’s trios are notorious for their technical and expressive complexity. What were the most challenging moments when learning the recording them?

We had some surprising moments with Reicha’s trios from the start – when learning them, we were shocked at first by their technical demands and then by their expressive complexity. Gradually, however, we began to discover Reicha’s inventiveness, a certain visionary quality, and above all his sense of humour. The last but perhaps nicest surprise has been the entirely positive reaction of audiences around the world.

You made the recording in Vienna with the proven team of Andrew Keener and Oscar Torres. How was the atmosphere in the studio, and how did their approach contribute to the resulting sound?

We also worked with Andrew Keener and Oscar Torres on our first album, and we knew what to expect from each other, so we were greatly looking forward to making another recording together. And that definitely was reflected in the atmosphere in the studio and in the overall result. Reicha’s music is very joyful, and our recording sessions were like that too. We can absolutely rely on Andrew and Oscar. We like the way they go about their work, so collaborating with them again on this project was a great pleasure.

This is the first complete reference recording of all six of Reicha’s trios. How does it feel to be the first performers to give this music its voice back after over two centuries?

The fact the Reicha’s trios are not burdened by a strong interpretive tradition gave us plenty of room to find our own individual path. We tried to apply the approach of informed interpretation of music of the Classical period, but at the same time, what we enjoyed doing was discovering the elements of humour that are concealed to a greater or lesser degree. It was a challenge for us to avoid making certain comparisons between Reicha and his contemporaries and successors. We tried to bring our own unique interpretive approach to his music, reflected in our handling of tone, use of the pedal, vibrato, phrasing, and evenly balanced articulation.

Reicha is often called a visionary who foresaw elements 19th- and even 20th- century music. How would you characterise his musical language to listeners perhaps hearing his music for the very first time?

Having spent months working intensively on Reicha’s music, we would describe his musical style as a peculiar combination of Late Classicism with Early Romanticism, enhanced by a great deal of joy and energy. He stands out for his daring handling of harmonic progressions and for his surprising shifts of expressive mood.

Trio Bohémo – Matouš Pěruška (violin), Kristina Vocetková (cello), and Jan Vojtek (piano) – have emerged as one of Europe’s leading chamber ensembles in the span of just a few years. They have won first prize at prestigious international competitions (Haydn Competition in Vienna, Parkhouse Award in London, Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria), and they appear at major venues worldwide like Vienna’s Musikverein, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Prague Spring Festival.

Their debut album on Supraphon (2024) received enthusiastic reviews in media including Classical Album of the Week in The Guardian and five stars from the BBC Music Magazine and I spoke to them about the album in 2024, see my interview 'Waiting till they feel they have something to say'

Anna Clyne in residence, collaborations with Jess Gillam, Alice Sarah Ott & Rushil Ranjan, Britten's War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral: the CBSO 2026/27 season

2026-05-06T16:20:00.002+01:00

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Kazuki Yamada (Photo: Andrew Fox)

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), music director Kazuki Yamada has announce their 2026/2027 season. One highlight must be Remembrance Day, when Kazuki Yamada conducts Britten's War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral where the work premiered in 1952. The soloists are tenor Andrew Staples, soprano Irina Lungu and baritone Christian Gerhaher with the CBSO Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus and Trinity Boys Choir in a performance that also marks 50 years since Britten's death.

Yamada and the CBSO their Mahler cycle and the season opens with Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with soprano Eleanor Lyons and contralto Jess Dandy in a concert which also celebrates the 1000th performance of the CBSO Chorus. The season will close in June 2027 with Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. Marking another anniversary, Yamada conducts the CBSO in all of Beethoven's symphonies during 2027, alongside the Violin Concerto and a wide ranging selection of chamber music and to set things of the CBSO's leader Eugene Tzikindelean directs the Violin Concerto from the violin in November 2026.

Three artists are collaborating with the CBSO during the season. Pianist Alice Sarah Ott's appearances include the Grieg and the Ravel concertos; saxophonist Jess Gillam joins Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello) and Ben Goldscheider (horn) for Gwilym Simcock's Triple Concerto and her other appearances include Anna Clyne's Glasslands as well as at Christmas events; composer/arranger/pianist Rushil Ranjan directs The Orchestral Qawwali Project, blending Sufi poetry, Indian classical dance and orchestra.

The CBSO's first composer in residence, Anna Clyne premieres her new Viola Concerto for soloist Laurence Power as well as Jess Gillam's performance of Glasslands which will be recorded. And Clyne's PALETTE will be performed by the CBSO Orchestral Residency Scheme, a scheme which offers exceptional young musicians aged 21 to 25 the opportunity to rehearse and perform alongside the CBSO. As well as Clyne's PALETTE, Yamada will be conducting the young musicians in Strauss' Alpine Symphony.

Ilan Volkov makes his debut as the CBSO's Principal Guest Conductor with programmes including Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 (with Ilya Gringolts) and Bruckner's 7th Symphony, Messiaen's Turangalila and a Shakespeare inspired programme of Thomas Ades, Richard Strauss and Mendelssohn.

On a lighter note, Yamada's concerts include pairing Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker with Duke Ellington's reworking, as well as A Night at the Opera! Family friendly concerts include celebrations of Quincy Jones, as well as ABBA and the film Home Alone, not to mention Star Wars: A New Hope, Casino Royale, and The Lord of the Rings.

Created especially for under‑6s, Notelets are joyful, interactive performances where children can sing, dance and discover orchestral instruments for the very first time, supported by free creative activities and opportunities to meet the musicians. Across the season, BSL‑interpreted family concerts further widen access, ensuring orchestral music is welcoming and inclusive for audiences of all ages.

Full details from the CBSO website.

Tales of Love & Loss: virtuosity from the Royal Opera's Jette Parker Young Artists in a satisfying & unusual triple bill

2026-05-06T11:28:00.009+01:00

Elena Langer: Four Sisters - Jingwen Cai, Ellen Pearson, Hannah Edmunds, Madeline Robinson, Sam Hird - Royal Opera (Photo: Mark Senior)

Tales of Love and Loss: Elizabeth Maconchy: The Departure, Charlotte Bray: Making Arrangements, Elena Langer: Four Sisters; Ellen Pearson, Sam Hird, Hannah Edmunds, Jingwen Cai, Giorgi Guliashvili, Madeline Robinson, director Talia Stern, Britten Sinfonia, conductor Peggy Wu; Royal Opera at Linbury Theatre

The Jette Parker Young Artists in a satisfying triple bill that provides a valuable opportunity to hear Maconchy's neglected opera alongside Charlotte Bray in sharp form and Elena Langer's vividly fast-paced New York farce.

For the latest Jette Parker Young Artists outing the Royal Opera has put together a satisfying and fascinating triple bill of operas by women composers. Tales of Love and Loss at the Linbury Theatre features Elizabeth Maconchy's The Departure, Charlotte Bray's Making Arrangements and Elena Langer's Four Sisters. The director was Talia Stern with designs by Ana Ines Jabares-Pita. Peggy Wu conducted the Britten Sinfonia with Ellen Pearson, Sam Hird, Hannah Edmunds, Jingwen Cai, Giorgi Guliashvili and Madeline Robinson.

Ana Ines Jabares-Pita's set successfully used the same basic form for the first two operas, The Departure firmly in the 1960s, and Making Arrangements suggesting the 1970s but for 1980s New York in Four Sisters we had an entirely newer, edgier look.

Maconchy's The Departure dates from 1961 and has a libretto by the poet Ann Ridler. The opera was last performed by Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells Theatre in 2007 in a double bill with Maconchy's The Sofa (which has a libretto by Ursula Vaughan Williams). The work is a simple two hander (but with an off-stage chorus).

We are in a bedroom with a woman (Ellen Pearson) getting ready and worried about being late to meet her husband (Sam Hird). She finds she has forgotten details, what he looks like and such, and is puzzled that he is outside bidding goodbye to friends without her. It soon becomes apparent, to us, that she is a ghost, the woman has just died, and she is here to bid her husband goodbye.

The second half of the piece, when we have realised what is going on, is perhaps over-extended, the woman trying too often to leave and failing. But Ellen Pearson was wonderfully sympathetic as the woman, Julia, mixing naturalism with lyrically rapturous moments with her mezzo-soprano revealing a beautifully fluid and flexible top. Sam Hird was moving as the man, Mark, though the role was inevitably somewhat one-dimensional. Maconchy's style which mixed lyricism with a little spice was highly expressive and certainly not a boilerplate copy of her teacher, RVW.

Elizabeth Maconchy: The Departure - Ellen Pearson, Sam Hird - Royal Opera

Charlotte Bray wrote Making Arrangements in 2012 for Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival. The libretto by Kate Kennedy was based on a short story by Elizabeth Bowen. Here the focus was very much on the man, Hewson (Sam Hird) who has received a letter from his absent wife, Margery (Hanna Edmunds). The work opens with the maid, Jingwen Cai filling us in like a Greek chorus. Throughout the opera this use of multiple characters in what could have been a large solo piece for the baritone was remarkably effective. With Cai now off-stage, Hird's Hewson opens the letter and his reading of it is counterpointed by Edmunds' Margery doing so as well, her skittish delivery contrasting with his more stolid reading. This creation of a marital duet (when the protagonists are in separate countries) gave us a vivid portrait of this failed marriage. Giorgi Guliashvili had a small role as Margery's current lover, Leslie, wearing an outfit that highlighted the idiocy suggested in the score. The Making Arrangements of the title refer to Margery's wish for Hewson to sort out their divorce and send on her dresses. He starts this latter but ends up destroying them in a frenzy, revealing a different side to his stolid character.

Bray's music was sharp-edged and vivid, yet always allowing the voices the necessary lyricism. The imaginative use of multiple voices and the sense of real musical storytelling without trying to make and 21st century musical points were all in the work's favour.

Charlotte Bray: Making Arrangements - Sam Hird - Royal Opera (Photo: Mark Senior)

Elena Langer's Four Sisters was written in 2012 at the request of Dawn Upshaw for students at Bard College, New York. For this performance, Langer had reorchestrated the work for chamber orchestra. John Lloyd Davies' witty libretto recycles Chekov's Three Sisters but makes them daughters of a rich (and recently deceased) Russian émigré in New York. The opera opens with the three (Jingwen Cai, Ellen Pearson, Madeline Robinson) all looking forward to the reading of the will and becoming rich; it is clear that all three are high maintenance. A maid, Hannah Edmunds, wanders to and fro making gnomic and intriguing comments, and finally the lawyer arrives, Sam Hird. There was much farcical business with the will and worries about the daughter of a Russian princess, but the opera's dénouement was well telegraphed partly because of the title Four Sisters.

Langer's music was vivid and fast moving. Despite the reduced orchestration she had some wonderfully strong colours (including taxi horns and a Swannee whistle). The three sisters often sang in ensemble, their music fast-paced, loud and in your face as might be expected from the three women who are New Yorkers to a tee. Each gets a solo moment where Langer allowed herself some fun, and she can write a mean Calypso. Hannah Edmunds' maid was the most sympathetic character and had plenty of moments addressing us directly, whilst Sam Hird's lawyer was pure Noo York caricature.

The result was fast-paced indeed, and the cast made the most of their over the top moments along with some neat dance routines. If the three sisters were perhaps over-loud and intensely annoying that almost certainly reflected very real characterisation. The piece certainly did not outstay its welcome and the 40 minutes flew past.

Elena Langer: Four Sisters - Jingwen Cai, Ellen Pearson, Madeline Robinson, Hannah Edmunds - Royal Opera (Photo: Mark Senior)

Director Talia Stern barely put a foot wrong and all three operas were presented in imaginative and satisfying ways with the cast moving between styles with admirably virtuosity.

In the pit, Peggy Wu and the Britten Sinfonia did more than justice to the three very different scores, moving from the lyricism of Maconchy to the stylistic eclecticism and hard edge of Langer's New York.

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Elsewhere on this blog

Youthful promise: four young artists in the Musicians' Company concerts at Wigmore Hall - concert review
Das Klagende Lied: Adrian Partington on the fascination and mysteries of Mahler's astonishing early symphonic work which he conducts at this year's Cheltenham Music Festival - interview
The fires of passion, immediacy & intimacy: Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt in Lera Auerbach, Golijov, Janacek & Mahler at Wigmore Hall - concert review
Transatlantic vision: American conductor Irene Messoloras on working with her British choir, Meridian, on their latest disc Finding Light - interview
Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden - opera review
America's 250th, 50 years since Britten's death, Miles Davis's centenary, anniversaries for Weber's Oberon & Varèse's Amériques: BBC Proms 2026 - feature
A delightful jeu d'esprit: a strong cast has great fun with Peter Tranchell's 1950s operetta Twice a Kiss - opera review
The piece that made me fall in love with song: mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston on Schumann's Dichterliebe - interview
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Youthful promise: four young artists in the Musicians' Company concerts at Wigmore Hall

2026-05-06T10:10:00.001+01:00

Jay Broadhurst (Photo: Julian Guidera)

The Musicians' Company Concerts: Dani Howard, Francis Poulenc, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann; Danushka Edirisinghe, George Herbert, Jay Broadhurst, Zany Denyer; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed 5 May 2026

Recipients of the Concordia Foundation awards in a concert full of strong performances, and vivid character culminating in a finely poetic account of Schumann's Dichterliebe by a young tenor who has impressed before.

On Tuesday 5 May 2026, the Musicians' Company presented a concert by prize winners from the Concordia Foundation Artists Fund at Wigmore Hall. We heard cellist Danushka Edirisinghe and pianist George Herbert in Dani Howard's Add Oil, Poulenc's Sonata for cello and piano and Clara Schumann's Romance in D flat from her Three Romances, Op. 22 (originally for violin and piano). Then tenor Jay Broadhurst and pianist Zany Denyer performed Schumann's Dichterliebe.

We first came across Broadhurst last December in Chelsea Opera Group's 75th anniversary performance of Verdi's Macbeth when Broadhurst (singing Malcolm) stepped in for an ailing José de Eça (singing Macduff) to give a thrilling performance of Macduff's Act Four aria [see my review].

Danushka Edirisinghe began with a piece for solo cello by Dani Howard. She was born in Hong Kong and the title of her piece Add Oil is from a Hong Kong expression used to encourage, support or cheer someone on. The piece was commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music for its Bicentenary 200 Pieces Project. It began with rhythmic repeated notes, the odd variation from the single repeated tone gradually developing into short motifs that became increasingly urgent. Edirisinghe played with vividly compelling tone, making the most of the piece's developing excitement and virtuosity.

Danushka Edirisinghe

Poulenc's Cello Sonata was written in 1948 and dedicated to Pierre Fournier. The first movement began with a strong cello sound, the two bringing out the work's highly coloured moments and rapid changes of mood as lyricism and rhythmic energy alternated. The second movement featured ;Edirisinghe's singing tone over Herbert's more intimate piano with the middle section turning more strenuous yet Edirisinghe kept the thread of lyricism. The third movement was fast and perky with changeable moods. The opening of the finale moved between strong gestures and mysterious cello harmonics before launching into a perky allegro with the insouciant cello providing strong colours and vivid character.

Edirisinghe and Herbert's final contribution to the recital was Clara Schumann's Romance where Herbert's fluid piano complemented Edirisinghe's singing line.

Tenor Jay Broadhurst was joined by pianist Zany Denyer for Schumann's Dichterliebe. 'Im wunderschönen Monat Mai' began with Denyer's wonderfully sympathetic piano with Broadhurst's intimate evocation of a remembrance of things past. 'Aus meinen Tränen sprießen' continued this sense of bittersweet remembrance, an only in 'Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne' did things get up-tempo with vivid projection from both. Broadhurst sang from memory and throughout is diction and sense of the text was excellent. His was quite a histrionic performance without ever veering into the operatic, and he gave us a strong sense of the young poet remembering and regretting.

The sense of melancholy in 'Wenn ich in deine Augen seh' did not preclude vibrant tone and a tender ending. There was a baritonal tang to Broadhurst's timbre which suited the music especially as he combined it with a fine sense of line. For all the lyrical flow of 'Ich will meine Seele tauchen' the two performers brought out the sense of underlying emotion. 'Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome' was strong indeed and finely expansive.

'Ich grolle nicht' was serious and intent contrasting with the lightness of 'Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen'. Yet the end of this latter was powerful indeed and Denyer really brought out the emotional undercurrents of the postlude. 'Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen' was fast and bitter, intense indeed. Denyer's spare piano playing in 'Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen' contrasted with Broadhurst's inward concentrated performance and an intense postlude led to the perky swagger of 'Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen' but even here bitterness crept in.

'Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen' gave us a moment of pure lyric beauty but Denyer ensured that the motivic complexity of the postlude really told, questioning what we had heard before. The piano turned dark in 'Ich hab' im Traum geweinet' as the poet became desperate, then 'Allnächtlich im Traume ' was pure bitterness and pain. By contrast 'Aus alten Märchen winkt es' seemed pure joy until the bitter final verses when the magical land remains out of reach. Denyer's strong, uncompromising piano in 'Die alten, bösen Lieder' complemented the sheer bitter fierceness of Broadhurst's tone. In the final verse Broadhurst became confiding, still in pain and leaving the final phrase almost suspended in mid-air, to be completed by Denyer's profoundly moving and rather magical postlude.

This was an impressive and wonderfully engaging performance, the two young artists bringing out the sense of the poet's youth and the emotional immediacy of Schumann's settings. Broadhurst wore the poet's heart firmly on his sleeve, complemented by the wonderful technical proficiency of his lieder singing. This is a voice that promises to develop dramatic depths but here we heard lyrical subtlety. Throughout Denyer was far more than a partner, creating a sense of the piano as co-creator of this cycle. Denyer proved a wonderfully sympathetic Schumann interpreter.

Never miss out on future posts by following us

The blog is free, but I'd be delighted if you were to show your appreciation by buying me a coffee.

Elsewhere on this blog

Das Klagende Lied: Adrian Partington on the fascination and mysteries of Mahler's astonishing early symphonic work which he conducts at this year's Cheltenham Music Festival - interview
The fires of passion, immediacy & intimacy: Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt in Lera Auerbach, Golijov, Janacek & Mahler at Wigmore Hall - concert review
Transatlantic vision: American conductor Irene Messoloras on working with her British choir, Meridian, on their latest disc Finding Light - interview
Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden - opera review
America's 250th, 50 years since Britten's death, Miles Davis's centenary, anniversaries for Weber's Oberon & Varèse's Amériques: BBC Proms 2026 - feature
A delightful jeu d'esprit: a strong cast has great fun with Peter Tranchell's 1950s operetta Twice a Kiss - opera review
The piece that made me fall in love with song: mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston on Schumann's Dichterliebe - interview
MOURN: A vividly theatrical mix of Eastern folk traditions & 17th century Italian music from Alkanna Graeca & Figure - music theatre review
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Brahms' Requiem, Elgar's Cello Concerto, Young Artist Recitals & under 26 piano competition: Newbury Spring Festival returns with more than 45 events in over 20 venues

2026-05-05T10:45:00.003+01:00

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Newbury Spring Festival Chorus
at St Nicolas Church, Newbury 2025 (Photo: Milly March)

The Newbury Spring Festival features two weeks of music and the arts with diverse genres including jazz, music theatre, cabaret, world music, folk, choral, ballet, chamber music and more. The festival is in its 47th year, and brings together internationally recognised artists and emerging talent across more than 45 events in over 20 venues, from major concerts at St Nicolas Church and the Corn Exchange to performances in rural churches and historic houses.

London Mozart Players are joined by horn player Ben Goldscheider and conductor Jonathan Bloxham for Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 alongside music by Anna Clyne, Elgar and Mendelssohn. Berkshire Youth Orchestra, conductor Jonathan Burnett is joined by cellist Jonathan Swenson (who won the Windsor International String Competition in 2019) for Elgar's Cello Concerto along with music by Amit Manna and Sibelius. The Sixteen and Harry Christophers stop off on their Choral Pilgrimage at Douai Abbey with music from the Spanish golden age alongside James MacMillan, and Kerensa Briggs. Adam Hickox and the Philharmonia Orchestra are joined by Leeds International Piano Competition winner Alim Beisembayev for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 alongside music by Mendelssohn and Brahms. Voces8 return to the Festival with a programme that moves from Victoria to Eric Whitacre and Ola Gjeilo.

The Newbury Spring Festival Chorus is joined by soprano Hilary Cronin, baritone James Atkinson, pianists Libby Burgess and Sebastian Wybrow under conductor Tom Primrose for the chamber version of Brahms' A German Requiem. The festival concludes with Tom Feathersonthaugh conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra in Britten's Four Sea Interludes, Strauss' Four Last Songs with soprano Elizabeth Watts, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6.

Charles Court Opera's performances are always a delight, and they bring to the festival their Around the World (of Gilbert & Sullivan) in 80 minutes. Brass ensemble Septura have a Franco-American programme with music by Debussy, Ravel, Gershwin, and Joplin. Joe Stilgoe joins Liza Pulman for Hurray for Hollywood, an evening of songs from the movies. Saxophonist Jess Gillam brings her trio performing music from jazz to the Baroque. The Budapest Cafe Orchestra is a British ensemble that focuses on gypsy and folk-flavoured music from the Balkans and Russia.

Pianist Barry Douglas's recital is an especial highlight with Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, and music by John Field and Prokofiev. Organist Simon Johnson plays the organ at Douai Abbey in a programme of Bach, Byrd, Howells and Messiaen.Violinist Michael Foyle and pianist Maksim Stsura give a recital in Englefield House's Long Gallery featuring music by Beethoven, Brahms and Franck.

At Highclere Castle, saxophonist Huw Wiggin is joined by harpist Oliver Wass for an unconventional pairing featuring music from Bach and Purcell to Debussy, Einaudi and Bernstein. Soprano Ruby Hughes joins violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen and pianist/composer Huw Watkins for Homecoming, a wide-ranging recital that includes Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock. Ensemble Augelleti bring their Jewels that Brightly Burn programme that features music by Bach's students. The Pavel Haas Quartet feature music by Schubert and Beethoven, whilst the Fidelio Trio perform Beethoven, Anna Clyne and Ravel.

In a family friendly concert, Stravinsky's The Firebird is presented in a version for two pianos (Mikhail Kazakevich and Elena Zozina) and narrator (Richard Morris)

Young artists recitals include baritone Florian Stortz and pianist Mark Rogers in Wagner, Liszt, Strauss and more; the Paddington Trio in Ravel and Shostakovich; Ensemble Renard in Perotin arranged by Oliver Knussen, Ravel, Bartok and Nielsen; the Fibonacci Quartet in Beethoven, Janacek and Moravian love songs in their own arrangements. The Sheepdrove Piano Competition is open to pianists aged 26 and under; the final is open to the public and the winner will give one of the Festival's young artist recitals featuring music by Prokofiev.

The Good Vibes Academy Showcase brings together local musicians of all ages and backgrounds in a reflection of a diverse and interconnected community.

Full details from the festival website.

Love Songs: Oxford International Song Festival is in celebratory mood

2026-05-05T09:58:00.000+01:00

This year, Oxford International Song Festival marks its 25th anniversary with to weeks of concerts (from 9 to 24 October 2026) under the title of Love Songs, featuring 59 events. The Festival opens with a recital by Dame Sarah Connolly, also marking the Festival’s first event at the newly opened Schwarzman Centre, and the following day baritone Matthias Goerne makes his Festival debut with Schubert's Winterreise.

The festival finale features a celebratory pair of events at St Edward's School. In the chapel, Owen Rees and the Choir of the Queen's College give a programme focusing on the Song of Songs with music by Palestrina, Walton, Duruflé, Victoria, Holst and Lauridsen. Then in the evening, in the Olivier Hall, a celebratory concert opens with the premiere of Marriage of…?, a new work by the festival's associate composer Emily Hazrati and librettist Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambahksh performed by soprano Nardus Williams. The choir returns to join soloists for Debussy's La Damoiselle élue, and there are songs and ensembles by Schubert, Chaminade, Bolcom and Brahms performed by Nardus Williams, mezzo-soprano Katie Bray, tenor Stuart Jackson, baritone Rafael Fingerlos, and pianists Jocelyn Freeman and Sholto Kynoch.

Premieres at the festival include soprano Nardus Williams in . Soprano Katy Thomson and pianist Rustam Khanmurzin premiere a new work by John Webb exploring the corrupting nature of power. Soprano Anna Dennis and pianist John Reid present The Silent Songs of Josefine, a new Kafka-inspired work by Can Bilir. Soprano Louise Alder and Joseph Middleton explore the passing of the year in a programme featuring Helen Grime’s Seasons, written for them in 2025.

The Festival’s central weekend is devoted to the music of Franz Schubert, with Graham Johnson continuing his exploration of the composer’s final years, 200 years on. Other performances include soprano Camilla Tilling in Schubert’s Rückert settings and mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston in Die Schöne Müllerin, both with Sholto Kynoch; and soprano Sarah Maria Sun in Der Hirt auf dem Felsen with pianist Jan Philip Schulze and clarinettist Julian Bliss.

The New Generation Day showcases three concerts in partnership with the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, all recorded for future broadcast. Performers include baritone Andrew Hamilton and pianist Michael Pandya; soprano Erika Baikoff with Sholto Kynoch; and Konstantin Krimmel with Ammiel Bushakevitz, presenting a programme that includes Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel. Eight Oxford Song Young Artist duos each give short showcase slots at the start of headline evening recitals in the first week of the Festival. In the second week, they immerse themselves in the residential Mastercourse, led by Jan Philip Schulze, with daily public masterclasses.

Pianist Dame Imogen Cooper performs Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch with soprano Katharina Ruckgaber and baritone Johannes Kammler as part of her final concert season before retirement. Juliane Banse returns with pianist Alexander Krichel, dancer István Simon and choreographer Andreas Heise for Bliss Beside Us, a danced performance of Mozart songs and piano music. The Carducci String Quartet performs Mozart's Clarinet Quintet with Julian Bliss and Alec Roth’s Seven Elements with tenor James Gilchrist. Other instrumentalists at the festival include guitarists Bryan Brenner and Václav Fuksa, and accordionist Murray Grainger.

Full details from the festival's website.

Classical at Aviva Studios: Factory International presents BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Collective, ENO & more

2026-05-05T09:21:00.004+01:00

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Aviva Studios in 2025 (Photo: Gaelle Beri)

Factory International, the organisation behind Manchester International Festival, presents a year-round cultural programme at Manchester's Aviva Studios including a classical season. Last weekend (2 May) the Hallé made its debut at Aviva Studios with Anna Meredith’s ANNO, a recontextualisation of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with animated visuals by the composer’s sister, Eleanor Meredith.

In what is the first of a planned series of collaborations, Factory International and English National Opera are presenting the UK premiere of Angel's Bone by Chinese-American composer, performance artist and activist Du Yun. The opera is a powerful allegory exploring themes of exploitation, power, and the human cost of survival. The work will be directed by Kip Williams and features the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Baldur Brönniman with a cast including Allison Cook and Rodney Earl Clarke.

The BBC Philharmonic returns to Aviva Studios with conductor Ludovic Morlot for a programme featuring Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring alongside the UK premieres of works by Jessie Montgomery and Samuel Adams. The sound is powered by the immersive d&b Soundscape audio system, along with captivating lighting design and audience members can choose to stand in the arena or sit in the upper tier of the hall.

Manchester Collective's Patterns in Repeat features a new piece by saxophonist and composer Cassie Kinoshi for piano and string quartet alongside music by Meredith Monk, and Cassandra Miller.

Going beyond classical, three concerts blend live music and cinema. NARUTO Symphonic Experience is a cinematic anime concert features a montage of iconic scenes synchronized with a live orchestra performing Toshio Masuda's original score. For Space Station Earth, Ilan Eshkeri's album is performed live on synthesisers with an orchestra and choir, presented alongside a film created from footage captured by astronauts aboard the International Space Station and imagery filmed at European Space Agency locations. And a live concert with the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Adrian Ronda Sampayo, celebrates two decades of BAFTA-nominated and award-winning games music with synchronised live with dynamic visuals, gameplay and imagery on screen.

Going beyond Aviva Studios, Factory International, Improbable and Nica Burns present the West End premiere of Tao of Glass, composed by Philip Glass and written by Phelim McDermott at sohoplace theatre. A production that was originally part of Factory International’s Manchester International Festival. And ENO will be bringing Du Yun's Angel's Bone to the London Coliseum in October 2026.

Full details from the Factory International website.

Das Klagende Lied: Adrian Partington on the fascination and mysteries of Mahler's astonishing early symphonic work which he conducts at this year's Cheltenham Music Festival

2026-05-02T09:50:00.002+01:00

Adrian Partington conducting Mahler's Symphony No. 8 at Gloucester Cathedral as part of the 2022 Cheltenham Music Festival
with South Cotswold Big Sing Group, British Sinfonietta

As part of this year's Cheltenham Music Festival, Adrian Partington will be conducting the British Sinfonietta and the South Cotswold Big Sing Group in Mahler's Das Klagende Lied at Tewkesbury Abbey. Adrian is music director at Gloucester Cathedral, which pays host to this year's Three Choirs Festival, and his concerts with the South Cotswold Big Sing Group have become a feature of Cheltenham Music Festivals where last year they performed Berlioz's Te Deum.

Das Klagende Lied is the earliest of Mahler's large-scale symphonic scores. Mahler wrote his own text based on Der singende Knochen (The singing bone) from the tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Mahler's first version of Das Klagende Lied was finished in 1880, whilst he was still a student. He submitted it for a competition where Brahms and colleagues on the jury dismissed the work. Mahler then revised it in 1893, but it was not performed, and he revised it further in 1898 with the first performance finally taking place in Vienna in 1901.

Gustav Mahler in 1898

When I asked Adrian why he had chosen Das Klagende Lied he explained that the work offers some of the best examples of Mahler but on a compact canvas. Despite being an early work the music is instantly recognisable as Mahler. Adrian explains that for him, though Mahler's style developed his tools did not, so the work uses the off-stage bands, marches and fanfares that reoccur in his later music, albeit with more sophistication.

The South Cotswold Big Sing Group likes to explore music that choral societies cannot do, and the group was set up in order to explore possibilities for co-operation between choral societies on events which would otherwise be beyond individual societies. In previous years, Adrian has conducted them in works such as Berlioz's Te Deum and Grande Messe des Morts, and Holst's Hymn of Jesus.

Adrian had been involved in two previous performances of Das Klagende Lied, rehearsing with the CBSO for performances by Simon Rattle and back in the 1980s with Worcester Festival Choral Society who performed it with conductor Bernard Keeffe. It is a work that stayed in his mind, a most attractive piece with fresh, interesting music. Also whilst you need a lot of voices, it is not too demanding a piece.

Adrian did a lot of research on the piece and its various versions, consulting Professor Jeremy Barham and the New Critical Edition of Gustav Mahler’s works in order to have a performing version that the festival could afford. The 1880 original is an astonishing work for a teenager, but it includes a prominent role for 18-part off-stage band and in fact this version has never been performed. In 1893 Mahler reduced the work from three to two movements and dispensed with the off-stage band. Nothing happened, and this version does not seem to have been performed. Then Mahler revised it again, keeping the two-movement format but restoring the off-stage band; this revision was wholesale enough to need a new manuscript and has become the standard version.

As Adrian pointed out, one of the big needs of the classical music world is money and an off-stage band of 18 players would cost the festival several thousand pounds, so Adrian was looking for way of doing the work without the off-stage band. On YouTube, he came across a performance from 1972 in Cleveland conducted by Pierre Boulez which did not have an off-stage band. Adrian thought that if it was done then, it could be done again, and he wrote to the Cleveland Orchestra. The orchestra's librarian, Michael Ferraguto discovered a set of parts untouched since 1972. From these, Adrian knows what to cue into the orchestral parts. There are some compromises, some doublings in certain instances, and decisions would have had to be made about what needed doing and almost certainly Pierre Boulez would have had to approve.

Adrian Partington conducting Berlioz's Te Deum at 2025 Cheltenham Music Festivalwith South Cotswold Big Sing Group, British Sinfonietta (Photo: ©Michael Whitefoot)

This was the 1898 version adapted in 1972 to omit the off-stage band, rather than the 1893 version. The Mahler edition was able to sent Adrian a copy of the 1893 score, and Adrian found it such a joy looking through it, seeing how Mahler had arranged it and exhibiting great artistry in the arrangement. Looking at the 1893 you can see how Mahler's mind was working as he was now a more experience composer. Rather frustratingly the manuscript of the 1893 version is in a museum in New York, it seems never to have been edited and no performing version exists.

Adrian is fascinated by this 1893 version and feels that he has not got to the bottom of it. Why did Mahler go to the effort of working out all those instrumental doublings in order to dispense with the off-stage band, only to abandon this version and restore the band in 1898. And no-one seems to know why? And another curiosity is the question of why no-one has performed that version. Adrian is also curious as to why the new edition was made for Cleveland in 1972. Again it would have been a massive amount of work, but anyone who played it would be long retired, and it is doubtful whether anyone remembers.

For all the marvellous music, Adrian does admit that the story as told in the libretto is somewhat repetitive and that Mahler was right to omit the first movement. But it is amazing how Mahler between the ages of 18 and 20 wrote so fluently and on such a large canvas (90-piece symphony orchestra plus off-stage band) even if the story-telling is poor.

Adrian will have a busy summer as the Three Choirs Festival opens in Gloucester on 25 July, when the opening evening concert sees Adrian conducting the Three Choirs Festival Chorus and Philharmonia Orchestra in the UK premiere of Gavin Higgins' Fanfare Americana, Elgar's Symphony No.1 and Walton's Belshazzar's Feast. This year's festival programme is, Adrian admits, deliberately popular as the festival has had to work had to attract audience back after lockdown. Some of the recent festivals have been adventurous in their programming, so that 2025 included Coleridge-Taylor's The Attonement (written for the 1903 festival), Howells' Hymnus Paradisi, and the premiere of Richard Blackford's The Black Lake. This year they have included more popular pieces and ticket sales have been going well.

Gloucester Cathedral organ case: the only complete 17th century
cathedral organ case surviving in this country (Photo: Kevin Lewis )

Another feature of this year's festival is that Gloucester Cathedral is getting a new organ. When I spoke to Adrian he said that the new instrument was coming along nicely. The instrument was originally built in 1666 by Thomas Harris and has the only complete 17th century cathedral organ case surviving in this country. Over the next three centuries it was rebuilt and extended by many organ builders including ‘Father’ Henry Willis. Harrison & Harrison rebuilt it again in 1920, and this organ served the Cathedral for fifty years, when it was given a total redesign by Norman and Beard, then being overhauled in 1999 by Nicholson. Nicholson & Co Ltd are working to refurbish and renew the Gloucester organ in time for the Three Choirs Festival. Adrian points out that such large-scale organ projects only occur once in a generation, and he feels lucky to be here for it.

The new organ is being launched with a gala concert on 13 June with organist Thomas Trotter and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales performing three works with organ, Eugene Gigout's Grande Choeur Dialogué (arr. Ropartz), Jongen's Symphonie Concertante and Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 in C minor (“Organ Symphony”).

Supported by the fact that this year the Elgar Society is celebrating its 75th anniversary and backing the Festival most generously, the Festival has scheduled a lot of Elgar both the larger works and smaller ones including Adrian conducting The Dream of Gerontius for the final concert with soloists John Findon, Niamh O'Sullivan and David Ireland. Adrian has been associated with the festival since 1969 when he heard his first performance of The Dream of Gerontius (and the tenor lost his voice). The Three Choirs Festival regularly rotate performances of The Dream of Gerontius, The Kingdom and The Apostles, something that not many organisations do nowadays.

Adrian worked on The Kingdom when Andrew Davis conducted it at the opening night of the BBC Proms in 2014 with the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra. Adrian says that the critics were dismissive of the work after this performance and he wonders whether its religiosity is out of place. You rather do need background Biblical knowledge to make the work completely satisfying, and with the fall off of church attendance this is getting less. Though Adrian does point out that he did the work in Bruges with surtitles, and it was very well received.

13 June 2026 - Gloucester Cathedral Organ Festival: Gala Concert - Eugene Gigout, Jongen, Saint-Saëns - BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Thomas Trotter, Adrian Partington - Gloucester Cathedral
4 July 2026 - Mahler's Das Klagende Lied, Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, Bruckner's Te Deum - Lee Bissett, Claudia Huckle, Elgan Llŷr Thomas, Adrian Smith, Cotswold Big Sing Group, British Sinfonia, Adrian Partington - Tewkesbury Abbey - Cheltenham Music Festival
25 July 2026 - Gavin Higgins: Fanfare Americana, Elgar: Symphony No. 1, Walton: Belshazzar's Feast - David Stout, Three Choirs Festival Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Adrian Partington - Gloucester Cathedral - Three Choirs Festival opening concert
1 August 2026 - Wagner: Prelude to Parsifal, Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius - John Findon, Niamh O'Sullivan, David Ireland, Three Choirs Festival Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Adrian Partington - Gloucester Cathedral - Three Choirs Festival closing concert

Never miss out on future posts by following us

The blog is free, but I'd be delighted if you were to show your appreciation by buying me a coffee.

Elsewhere on this blog

The fires of passion, immediacy & intimacy: Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt in Lera Auerbach, Golijov, Janacek & Mahler at Wigmore Hall - concert review
Transatlantic vision: American conductor Irene Messoloras on working with her British choir, Meridian, on their latest disc Finding Light - interview
Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden - opera review
America's 250th, 50 years since Britten's death, Miles Davis's centenary, anniversaries for Weber's Oberon & Varèse's Amériques: BBC Proms 2026 - feature
A delightful jeu d'esprit: a strong cast has great fun with Peter Tranchell's 1950s operetta Twice a Kiss - opera review
The piece that made me fall in love with song: mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston on Schumann's Dichterliebe - interview
MOURN: A vividly theatrical mix of Eastern folk traditions & 17th century Italian music from Alkanna Graeca & Figure - music theatre review
Beautifully wrought & intensely serious: Kitty Whately & Julius Drake explore the songs of Madeleine Dring - record review
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Prokofiev Studio: new gallery devoted to the abstract art of Oleg Prokofiev son of the composer & father of composer Gabriel Prokofiev

2026-05-01T15:00:00.000+01:00

Composer Gabriel Prokofiev is opening a space dedicated to the art of his father Oleg Prokofiev (1928-1998), son of composer Sergei Prokofiev. Oleg wrote that his father's music inspired in him 'a wave of some wonderful energy...a poetic or artistic impulse'.

Oleg became known for his abstract works created in the 1950s in defiance of the Soviet Union’s strict cultural controls where the doctrine of socialist realism was rigidly imposed. Come the 1960s, Oleg developed a relationship with British art historian Camilla Gray and for a decade Oleg hid his abstract work, so the couple could get married. Granted permission in 1969, the two married but Camilla Gray died two years later. Oleg moved to the UK after her death, but his abstract works were left behind, Oleg believing them lost. Returning to his former home in Moscow in 1994, he discovered that the art works had been kept safe by the house's owner alongside the artist's sketches.

Camilla Gray's book The Great Experiment: Russian Art 1863–1922, published in 1962, broke new ground in explaining Russian avant-garde art outside Russia. Gray was the daughter of Basil Gray, keeper of Oriental art at the British Museum, and the scholar of art and lettering Nicolete Gray, and granddaughter of the poet Laurence Binyon.

Gabriel Prokofiev has now opened Prokofiev Studio in Hackney which will house his father's archive, featuring abstract artworks from the 1950s alongside letters, postcards, sketchbooks, sculptures and other lost paintings. The opening exhibition, Bending Time will feature a reconstruction of Oleg's 1990s studio in Hackney Wick.

Further information from Prokofiev Studio on Instagram.

10th anniversary: Fantasia Orchestra celebrates with a busy summer featuring a return to the BBC Proms

2026-05-01T14:33:00.002+01:00

Jasdeep Singh Degun, Gurdain Rayatt, Fantasia Orchestra, Tom Fetherstonhaugh - Smith Square Hall (Photo: Pablo Strong)

Fantasia Orchestra, conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh, celebrates its 10th anniversary this summer with a very busy programme of concerts including a return to the BBC Proms, festival appearances at Cheltenham, Snape and more, and a premiere with Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Having recently joined forces with sitar player and composer Jasdeep Singh Degun at Smith Square Hall [see my review], the orchestra returns to Smith Square later this month for a jazz-infused concert featuring pianist Steven Osborne in Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside a typically eclectic programme featuring more DSCH, plus Gershwin, Rogers & Hart and Bartok. And their final Smith Square concert of the season features mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan in a surprising mix of contemporaries including Richard Strauss, Alma Mahler, Ellington, Kern, Gershwin and more

The orchestra's first Prom (at St Jude's) is more sedate with Junyan Chen the soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside Symphony No. 1. A Relaxed Prom at the Royal Albert Hall includes music by Dvořák, Vaughan Williams and Caroline Shaw, alongside arrangements of Radiohead and Duke Ellington, performed with the BBC Singers. Then a Late Night Prom sees them join with Evelyn Glennie for the premiere of Heloise Werner's Wood Pigeon alongside music by Meredith Monk, Morton Feldman and John Coltrane, marking both Feldman and Coltrane's 100th anniversaries.

Festival going sees the Orchestra in Cheltenham with Jasdeep Singh Degun for a repeat of their programme, they are joined by mezzo-soprano Anita Monserrat for a remix of the Strauss, Alma Mahler, Ellington, Kern, Gershwin programme at Guiting Music Festival, and they will also be popping up in Snape Maltings.

Full details from the Fantasia Orchestra website.

Windrush & Migrations - An Evening of Opera in Concert: Pegasus Opera Company & Brixton Chamber Orchestra join forces for Windrush Day

2026-05-01T13:48:00.008+01:00

Pegasus Opera Company is joining forces with another dynamic Brixton musical institution, Brixton Chamber Orchestra for a pair of events marking Windrush Day 2026. They are presenting Windrush & Migrations: an Evening of Opera in Concert at Broadway Theatre, Rushey Green (25 June) and Lambeth Town Hall (26 June).

The evening includes excerpts from Will Todd's Migrations which was first commissioned by Welsh National Opera [see my review] and Des Oliver's Windrush Opera commissioned by Pegasus Opera Company, alongside other evocative works that reflect themes of journey, identity and hope. The evening also includes music from Philip Hagemann's opera Ruth based on the Bible story, which Pegasus Opera first performed in 2018.

An evening of music and storytelling exploring themes of migration, identity and belonging, these are stories that resonate strongly across London’s communities, offering an accessible and inspiring entry point into the art form while honouring the significance of Windrush Day.

Full details from Pegasus Opera Company's website.

A little summer magic: Anush Hovhannisyan & Sam Jewison in Broadway Rhapsody, for one night only

2026-04-30T08:25:00.001+01:00

Broadway Rhapsody: Anush Hovhannisyan & Sam Jewison

Soprano Anush Hovhannisyan is familiar from her performances as Lisa in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Space at the Grange Festival [see my review], Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at Opera Holland Park [see my review], and Verdi's Les vêpres Siciliennes at WNO [back in 2020 when the company could still afford to stage grand opera, see my review] but in July we will be seeing another side to her.

On 26 July 2026, Hovhannisyan is joined at Opera Holland Park by singer and pianist Sam Jewison and a 40-piece orchestra for Broadway Rhapsody, a celebration of Broadway musicals with music from Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, Anything Goes and more, blending the golden age of Broadway with classical flair.

This is very much a passion project for Hovhannisyan and she describes it as "a bold, artist-led, no-safety-net adventure, which means no big backers, just us, the music".

She is joined by Scarborough-born jazz pianist and vocalist Sam Jewison whose performances have included sold-out EFG London Jazz Festival shows in 2022 and 2023, as well as appearances at the West End’s Crazy Coqs, Camden’s Jazz Café, Westminster Abbey and, not least, the Royal Opera House.

Tickets are available from the Opera Holland Park website, and what better way to spend a summer evening.

Looking for people who have experience in the music industry to help shape the work of a charity improving health & wellbeing through the healing power of live music

2026-04-29T10:54:00.000+01:00

Music in Hospitals & Care

Music in Hospitals & Care is looking for people to join its Board of Trustees

Music in Hospitals & Care is a charity that brings live music to people in hospitals, care homes and communities across the UK, improving the health and wellbeing of children and adults through the healing power of live music. Their professional musicians share live music with people from across the UK, who may not otherwise get to experience it. This includes those living with dementia, who have mental health problems, or who are seriously ill.

The charity is looking for trustees and would like to find people who have experience in the music industry to help shape their work. You don’t need to have experience as a trustee or being on a board before - they offer a comprehensive induction programme and training and development opportunities as appropriate.

The Board of Trustees provides guidance, advice and support to the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team. Meetings are normally held in London or online via Zoom. The role is unpaid but reasonable travel and subsistence expenses are provided. It is likely that virtual meetings will remain a regular feature of the organisation in the future.

Full details from Music in Hospitals & Care's website.

The fires of passion, immediacy & intimacy: Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt in Lera Auerbach, Golijov, Janacek & Mahler at Wigmore Hall

2026-04-29T09:36:00.007+01:00

Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

The Fires of Love: Lera Auerbach, Janacek, Osvaldo Golijov, Mahler; Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed 28 April 2026

One of O/Modernt's usual freewheeling programmes juxtaposing Golijov's klezmer inspired clarinet with Mahler giving with speaking intensity, Lera Auerbach remarkable dialogue with Pergolesi and Janacek's intimate confessions writ large

Hugo Ticciati and O/Modernt's concert at Wigmore Hall on Tuesday 28 April 2026 was the final one of their residency. Entitled The Fires of Love the programme was supposed to feature the performance of a new commission featuring Iranian vocalist Haleh Seyfizadeh, but she has been unable to travel from Iran. The war thus spreading its tentacles to even the hallowed halls of Wigmore Street. Rather oddly, given the political circumstances, Hugo Ticciati replaced the planned work with Osvaldo Golijov's 1994 work, The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind where Jewish klezmer clarinet is the focus. Around this, the other works in the programme considered different types of love with Lera Auerbach's Sogno di Stabat Mater (2005), Janacek's String Quartet No. 2 'Intimate Letters' (1928) and Mahler's Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 (1901-2).

We began with Auerbach's Sogno di Stabat Mater for solo violin and viola (Hugo Ticciati and Sascha Bota), strings and vibraphone (Elsa Bradley). Auerbach wrote the work for Gidon Kremer, and it is a shorter version of Auerbach's Dialogues on Stabate Mater. The work takes fragments of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, with the solo vocal lines transferred to violin and viola, and weaves them together with Auerbach's own pondering to create a dialogue where the pain of the mother's suffering is to the fore.

The result was a work where Pergolesi's music often hovered tantalisingly in the background with sections that seemed neo-Baroque, the original below the surface, almost but not quite there. Yet other passages stretched the material with remarkable ferocity and violence. Central the performance was the intense playing of the solo duo, whether emulating Pergolesi, giving us a rather modern take on the Baroque original or displaying violence with intensity and vividness. The more violent and ferocious episodes off-set the poise and restraint of Pergolesi's original to create a thoughtful dialogue. We ended with Pergolesi except the music wandered off and evaporated.

Following this we turned to Janacek's very secular and remarkable passion for Kamila Stosslova inspired by the 700 letters he wrote her. Janacek composed the quartet in 1928, the year of his death, some eleven years after meeting her and the work represents an outpouring of his unequal passion. It was premiered after his death. We heard it in a transcription for string orchestra made by Hugo Ticciati which wove the four solo string quartet lines into full string orchestra textures. The result expanded the rich sound world and sonic range but perhaps lost something of the edginess and urgency that a string quartet would have brought. This was intimacy writ large, the moments for solo quartet set off by vivid ensemble comments.

The first movement began with a strong, passionate sound emphasising the contrast with the almost conversational interactions of the solo quartet, giving us a sense of dialogue. The performance did indeed carry us away. The simplicity and plangency of the solo quartet's extended opening section to the second movement again contrasted with the vibrant textures of the tutti strings. This was something that kept recurring in this movement, moments of extreme urgency and moments of transparency, the emotions turning on a pin. The haunted opening of the third movement's fragments of melody built into folk-inspired and dramatic moments, urgent intensity contrasting with lyricism. The final movement was vivid indeed with strong rhythms and a big string sound, yet also intimate solo quartet contributions leading to contrasts of scale and dynamics. The work seemed to gain in vibrant intensity and lose in immediacy and urgency. The overall result was a tour de force of performance from the orchestra but not my idea way to hear this piece.

After the interval the string ensemble was joined by solo clarinettist, Christoffer Sundqvist. Golijov wrote The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind for clarinet and string quartet, but created a version for clarinet and string orchestra (the two are evidently not interchangeable). The title refers to the kabbalist Isaac the Blind, but the musical inspiration is klezmer. Golijov's programme note referred to the different movements speaking in different languages - Aramaic, Yiddish and Hebrew. But to an outsider there was a common thread of the keening of the klezmer-inspired clarinet part. Sundqvist in fact played four clarinets, an E flat, a bass clarinet and two other more 'regular' ones. The work flowed seamlessly, despite Golijov's references to different movements, with sustained pause points for the strings to enable the clarinettist to change instruments. It was a long (over-long?) work and I have nothing but admiration for Sundqvist's bravura and highly involved performance.

The strings began in hesitant style with low, intimate notes from the clarinet which gradually came to the fore leading to the first movement proper with fast, rhythmic strings and urgent, plangent clarinet contributions. This was a vivid sound-world indeed. As the clarinet writing became more melodic there were lots of bent notes and the sounds took on a distinctly Eastern European, perhaps even Eastern Mediterranean feel. The opening movement and the concluding one had a sense of a keening clarinet over more mobile strings, yet the central movement featured a catchy, uptempo dance that was pure klezmer and positively carried us away. Yet Golijov never let the music settle for long, and the dance was constantly interrupted and disrupted. The overall feel of the entire piece was one of disruption and unsettlement. The clarinet's mellow keening of the final movement did not preclude some more bravura moments and the ending combining sustained bass clarinet notes with string atmospherics until the music seemingly evaporated.

For the final work in the programme the strings were joined by harpist Lise Vandermissen for Mahler's Adagietto which he wrote as a love song to Alma. Here we did not get the lush string tone of larger, plush orchestras but instead a focused and speaking intensity. The use of so many solo lines each shaped strongly brought out links to Strauss' Metamorphosen and the overall result was intimate and immediate.

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Elsewhere on this blog

Transatlantic vision: American conductor Irene Messoloras on working with her British choir, Meridian, on their latest disc Finding Light - interview
Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden - opera review
America's 250th, 50 years since Britten's death, Miles Davis's centenary, anniversaries for Weber's Oberon & Varèse's Amériques: BBC Proms 2026 - feature
A delightful jeu d'esprit: a strong cast has great fun with Peter Tranchell's 1950s operetta Twice a Kiss - opera review
The piece that made me fall in love with song: mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston on Schumann's Dichterliebe - interview
MOURN: A vividly theatrical mix of Eastern folk traditions & 17th century Italian music from Alkanna Graeca & Figure - music theatre review
Beautifully wrought & intensely serious: Kitty Whately & Julius Drake explore the songs of Madeleine Dring - record review
Home

Amidst the hills of Southern Tuscany, a new music festival with local roots and British connections

2026-04-28T10:00:00.003+01:00

Forum Bertarelli front entrance with glass canopy at dusk.

This summer a new festival is launching in Tuscany embedded in the wine-growing area. Amiata Music is an annual festival which has evolved from the Fondazione Bertarelli’s successful Amiata Piano Festival which since 2015 has been based at the Forum Fondazione Bertarelli, a contemporary concert hall designed by architect Edoardo Milesi and situated in the province of Grosseto. The Forum Fondazione Bertarelli is located amongst the Bertarelli family’s award-winning wine estates and the Montecucco agriturismo which has been lovingly restored over the last two decades.

Looking after the new Amiata Music festival are creative director Nicholas Chalmers and executive director Rosenna East. East and Chalmers previously worked together at Nevill Holt Opera where they oversaw the significant growth of the summer opera festival, its charitable education and community programme, and the build and opening of its multiple award-winning opera theatre in 2018.

Amiata Music's 2026 season opens on 26 July with a gala where Nicholas Chalmers conducts Sinfonia Smith Square Orchestra in collaboration with the Florence-based opera training and performance company, Mascarade Opera with young singers including Floriana Cicio, Claudia Perreira, Garrett Evers and Charles Buttigieg. Other events include tenor Laurence Kilsby with Alessandro Quarta and Concerto Romano for Care Gemme, a programme exploring the birth of Italian opera through music by Claudio Monteverdi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Domenico Sarro.

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato brings her project Emily — No Prisoner Be. This genre-defying collaboration with Time for Three, featuring music by Kevin Puts inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson. DiDonato's residency also includes masterclasses and the launch of the Italian Songbook
Project, working with young singers from Mascarade Opera Academy and local ensembles.

Other visitors include bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado and his jazz sextet, Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante in Vivaldi, baritone Luca Micheletti and pianist Malcolm Martineau, and pianist Alice Sara Ott in Field and Beethoven. In the autumn, the young Italian ensemble Trio Concept is in residence as part of a week-long, creative retreat, with a public concert at the end of the process.

Alongside its concert and talent developments programmes, Amiata Music is committed to education and community engagement through initiatives for schools across the Grosseto region and a programme of concerts for the whole family.

Full details from the Amiata Music website.

Britten's unrealised plans for a follow-up to Noyes Fludde inspire a new intergenerational community opera from Errollyn Wallen & Mahogany Opera

2026-04-28T08:50:00.001+01:00

Britten's Noyes Fludde at Orford Church

In 1958, Britten premiered Noyes Fludde the archetype of community opera with its mix of amateur and professional performers using an approachable text derived from the Chester Mystery Plays. In 1974, Britten was approached by the head of Pimlico School in London for another such opera for performance at the school. Britten went back to the Chester Mystery Plays and created A Christmas Sequence. Sadly the libretto remained in typescript as Britten was too ill to translate it into music.

Now, Errollyn Wallen is writing a new opera for children, adults and professional artists with a libretto based on Britten's A Christmas Sequence. Wallen's A Christmas Miracle is being developed by Mahogany Opera, co-produced by Britten Pears Arts and supported by Jubilee Opera and Orkney Music and Culture. The world premiere performances will take place in Orford Church on 20 and 21 November, where Noye’s Fludde was premiered. A Christmas Miracle will then travel to Wallen’s home of Orkney for performances in St. Magnus Cathedral on 4 and 5 December.

A Christmas Miracle includes settings of much-loved Christmas carols for everyone to sing and is designed to be bespoke for each performance. The production will tour with a small professional cast (4 singers and 10 instrumentalists) and production team, which will work with a large community cast of around 80–100 participants of varying ages, backgrounds and skills in each location.

A Christmas Miracle will be Wallen's third collaboration with director Frederic Wake-Walker who was responsible for her operas The Lighthouse Wave and Dido’s Ghost [see my review]. The piece combines high levels of community participation with more complex material for professional artists. Designer Ruth Paton will work alongside an emerging designer (supported by the Jerwood Foundation) and the cast includes Hilary Cronin, Emma Tring, Andrew Watts, Idunnu Münch and Nick Mercer. The performances will be conducted by John Andrews, with Ensemble X who regularly collaborate with Errollyn Wallen, and they can be supported in certain sections by amateur musicians at any level who will be recruited in each location.

Britten conceived of the idea of writing a children's opera based on a biblical story in 1947, suggesting the idea to Eric Crozier. Nothing happened immediately, but Britten and Crozier collaborated on the cantata Saint Nicholas (1948) which uses children's choirs and has congregational hymns incorporated, then Britten fused amateur and professional forces in his opera The Little Sweep which is part of Let's Make an Opera (1949) again with Crozier.

Noyes Fludde began as an idea for television, though Britten was keen not to go over the ground covered in Let's Make an Opera. For the first time, Britten used a large complement of child performers in Noyes Fludde and the work was finally premiered in Orford Church as part of the Aldeburgh Festival in 1958, and it became the first of Britten's operas to be shown in television when it was broadcast by ATV in June 1958. The success of the work meant that it has become almost an archetype for community and children's opera.

Further information from the Mahogany Opera website. There is currently an open call-out for performers for A Christmas Miracle with events at Orford and Snape on 8 and 9 May, full details from the Mahogany Opera website.

Berlioz, Bartok, Bach and a focus on Beethoven: Scottish Chamber Orchestra's 2026/27 season

2026-04-27T15:01:00.000+01:00

Maxim Emelyanychev & Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Photo: Christopher Bowen)

Scottish Chamber Orchestra's 2026/27 season continues their profitable relationship with principal conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and his concerts with them feature Berlioz, Bach, Schnittke, Bartok, Poulenc, Faure, Brahms and more. Another focus of the season is Beethoven as part of the Scotland-wide Beethoven 200 celebrations, and the orchestra continue its association with composer Jay Capperauld.

Maxim Emelyanychev’s contract has been extended till at least 203, continuing what has proved to be a very dynamic partnership. Emelyanychev opens the 2026/27 season with an all-Berlioz programme, Harald in Italy with viola player Timothy Ridout and Symphonie Fantastique. Other Emelyanychev programmes in the season include Bach's St Matthew Passion with Nick Pritchard, Matthew Brook, Hilary Cronin, Tim Mead, Robert Murray and Roderick Williams, and a Mendelssohn celebration with the Lobesgesang and Piano Concerto No. 1 with Stephen Hough. Emelyanychev directs from the piano in a fascinating programme featuring Schnittke's Concerto for piano and strings, Bartok's Music for strings, percussion and celeste and Dvorak's Serenade for winds. Carolyn Sampson is the soloist in Poulenc's La voix humaine which Emelyanychev conducts in a programme with Ravel and Stravinsky, and a second programme with her features Faure's La bonne chanson and Poulenc's La courte paille. Baroque inspirations are featured in Emelyanychev’s programme with Ravel and Ades inspired by Coupering plus Rebel and Telemann. The season finale features Emelyanychev, violinist Nicola Benedetti and SCO's principal cellist Philip Higham in Brahms's Double Concerto plus music by Weber and Schumann.

The Beethoven 200 celebration features the SCO, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera in a historic, Scotland-wide Beethoven 200 celebration, marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death. All nine of the composer’s symphonies are to be performed, as well as a number of his concertos and choral works. Andrew Manze conducts the SCO in Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' and Missa Solemnis, Rachel Podger directs Symphony No. 1 from the violin, Lorenza Borrani directs Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 from the violin, Sunwook Kim directs Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 from the piano, Håkan Hardenberger directs excerpts from The Creatures of Prometheus and Brett Dean's arrangement, Adagio molto e mesto, and Pekka Kuusisto directs the Violin Concerto from the violin.

SCO continues its association with Scottish composer Jay Capperauld [see my interview with him] with the premiere of his Sinfonietta written for the combined forces of the SCO and the young musicians of SCO Academy. His The Great Grumpy Gaboon returns to Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow in 2027 for more fun-packed, family-friendly and BSL-interpreted performances. His new work Silent Teachers was commissioned by the University of Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh Medical School’s anniversary programme, and the work will also form part of two short films including an online performance of Silent Teachers and interviews with Jay Capperauld and Edinburgh Medical School staff. And Immerse, SCO's orchestral experience for secondary pupils blending music and visual art, will feature Jay Capperauld’s The Origin of Colour.

Brooklyn Rider will join the Orchestra for the premiere of Nico Muhly’s new work for string quartet and orchestra. The SCO will give the UK premiere of two new orchestrations of works by Fanny Mendelssohn, arranged by composer Detlev Glanert. SCO will collaborate with the iconic Icelandic band Sigur Rós for two major cross-genre concerts at the Edinburgh Playhouse and at Glasgow’s SEC Armadillo.

Other contemporary composers whose works feature in the season include Max Richter, Philip Glass, John Adams, Missy Mazzoli, HK Gruber and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.

Full details from the SCO website.

Invincible: Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida & composer Saunder Choi mark 10 years since the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida

2026-04-27T08:40:00.000+01:00

Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida

On 12 June 2016, a gunman opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The attack killed 49 people and wounded 53 others, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history at the time. The victims were predominantly young Latino LGBTQ+ individuals.

Almost ten years to the day, on 19 June 2026 the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida (GMCSF) will present the world premiere of Amor Eterno: A Requiem for Pulse, a choral work by composer Saunder Choi commissioned to mark 10 years since the Pulse nightclub shooting. Choi's work is part of the programme Invincible: A Pride Concert of Remembrance, Resilience, and Song that the choir is presenting at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.

Choi's Amor Eterno: A Requiem for Pulse is a 45-minute choral work, featuring soloists bass-baritone Enrico Lagasca and soprano Elisse Albian. Choi sets poetry by LGBTQ+ writers Amir Rabiyah, Leo Herrera, Andrea Assaf, and Brian Sonia-Wallace, whose work traces grief, longing, frustration, and the persistence of love across the decade since the shooting.

Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and performer who has written a wide variety of works, from contemporary classical instrumental, vocal and choral works to jazz charts and popular music arrangements. He is the winner of the 2024 American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Raymond Brock Prize for professional composers. His music is performed by groups such as the LA Master Chorale Chamber Singers, Philippine Madrigal Singers, and the Crossing Choir. He studied at Berklee College of Music, and USC.

Choi explains, "Inspired by the humanistic vision of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem, the work shifts the focus from ritual prayers for the departed toward solace for the living. Through the voices of contemporary poets and the stories of families and survivors, the piece honours a community forever changed by violence while affirming that love, joy, and remembrance remain acts of resilience."

Further information from the Broward Center website.

Transatlantic vision: American conductor Irene Messoloras on working with her British choir, Meridian, on their latest disc Finding Light

2026-04-25T08:44:00.001+01:00

Irene Messoloras

Following on from their debut EP, Serenity (2024), and A Meridian Christmas (2025), London-based professional chamber choir Meridian, founder and director Irene Messoloras, have released their debut album on Signum Classics. Finding Light features John Shepherd's Libera nos as part of a programme that has a focus on contemporary composers including music by Vytautus Miškinis, Hanna Havrylets, Rihards Dubra, Henryk Górecki, Benedict Sheehan, Karl Jenkins, Thora Marteinsdottir, Alexander L’Estrange, Stephen Paulus and Morton Lauridsen.

Irene describes the disc as "a shared act of expression that spans centuries, cultures, and traditions."

Irene is a Greek-American conductor based in California where she is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and currently serves as the Associate Chair of the Music Department. In 2025, Irene’s UCI Chamber Singers received first place in The American Prize for Best Choral Performance, university division.

The focus of Finding Light is deliberately spiritual in a more general sense. Irene's choice of music focuses on intimate expression. She herself uses prayer and meditation, and she wanted the disc to make people feel connected to what they feel close to, to reflect. She hopes that the listener will bring their own meaning and reflections to the music, where sacred repertoire can have a sense of meditation and stillness even for the non-religious.

Irene Messoloras & Meridian recording Finding Light at All Hallows Church

Whilst John Shepherd's responsory, Libera Nos might seem something of an outlier in a programme that focuses on contemporary composer, Irene felt that its gravity and calm anchors the programme. She also finds a sense of urgency in the piece which helps to start the theme of the disc. The other pieces are deliberately widely chosen with composers from the USA, Baltic, Iceland, Ukraine and Britain. The resulting recital is not intended to have an overarching theme, instead it is one to dip into. Anchored by a sense of calm there are few extremes in the music. She wants the music to simply unfold, to meet people where they are at.

Her intention was not for the disc to focus on sacred music, that 'just happened'. She has served in many different organisations both churches and community-based ones, and she has found that choral music (particularly sacred music) is able to create a space for shared experience. And even for those of no faith, there is a feeling of spiritual comfort.

As an American conductor working with a British choir (where many of the singers also sing in established British choral groups), she felt that there was something of a transatlantic vision - the sound and blend from the UK alongside the expressive freedom and immediacy from the USA. A lot of the singers did not know all the repertoire on the disc, and they were able to share to together. Though she points out that the pieces by Lauridsen, Thompson and Paulus are all well-known in the USA. And whether familiar or not she hopes that is a beautiful offering that invites the listener to pause and reflect.

Alongside the Shepherd and the three American pieces there are other gems, something for everyone. She points out Alexander L'Estrange's Lighten our Darkness which she describes as a little gem. She describes as heartbreaking the way Ukrainian composer Hannah Havrylets died at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Her piece, Prayer, was not published and Irene had to get permission from Havrylets's family.

Alongside her work at UIC, Irene guest conducts ensembles across the globe. Until a few years ago she was conducting a professional ensemble at an American mega-church, but the church decided to stop their classical choir. Irene paused and thought about what she could do next. She was working a lot in the UK and Europe, as well as talking to Signum, and she wanted to bring her American experience to the British landscape. The result was Meridian with them releasing their EP, Serenity in March 2025.

She describes her relationship with the choir as a two-way exchange: she feels her direction is very clear, and the singers give something back. There is a care and emotional openness too which really meets the repertoire, creating the heard of the recording. She has found the singers to be very disciplined, wanting to contribute to the recording so that it is very much a collaboration. They have another recording session scheduled for the end of July with lots of plans including a performance as part of Live from London, another EP featuring the music of Ola Gjeilo and Hildegard of Bingen, and another album. She is also creating the Meridian Choral Foundation which she feels is the next step in their trajectory.

The university is encouraging of her concert work and is supportive of her lending her time. As an academic she is immersed in finding choral repertoire, and she enjoys the way her work as a scholar goes hand in hand with lending herself to conducting opportunities.

She comes from a musical family and always wanted to be a conductor. At three years old she was conducting an ensemble made up of her sister and her stuffed animals! She grew up immersed in music, studying voice and instruments. Her parents were very supportive of her musical aspirations and though she was involved in opera and music theatre, it was conducting that drew her.

She also studied dance, doing ballet for a number of years and found this helpful because she became aware of gesture. And she still uses this when she teaches conductors.

Though she very much advocates for women in the profession, she is aware that she learned from men. She thinks it is important that she understands where she came from so that she can provide for future women conductors.

When studying her Masters and her Doctorate at UCLA her mentor was the conductor Donald Neuen. He remains a big influence, and she cites his commitment to excellence and his bringing of intention in every note. He helped her to commit to music in a way that she did not realise she needed. She also married a composer and through him, she came to understand how to honour and interpret a score and the will of the composer.

Finding Light
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Elsewhere on this blog

Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden - opera review
America's 250th, 50 years since Britten's death, Miles Davis's centenary, anniversaries for Weber's Oberon & Varèse's Amériques: BBC Proms 2026 - feature
A delightful jeu d'esprit: a strong cast has great fun with Peter Tranchell's 1950s operetta Twice a Kiss - opera review
The piece that made me fall in love with song: mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston on Schumann's Dichterliebe - interview
MOURN: A vividly theatrical mix of Eastern folk traditions & 17th century Italian music from Alkanna Graeca & Figure - music theatre review
Beautifully wrought & intensely serious: Kitty Whately & Julius Drake explore the songs of Madeleine Dring - record review
Cross-cultural cross currents: Jasdeep Singh Degun with Fantasia Orchestra in Terry Riley's iconic In C performed by string orchestra, piano, sitar and tabla at Smith Square Hall - concert review
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Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden

2026-04-24T13:52:00.000+01:00

Verdi: Rigoletto; Liparit Avetisyan, Robyn Allegra Parton, Hansung Yoo, director: Oliver Mears, conductor: Sir Mark Elder; Royal Opera House
Reviewed 23 April 2026

With some new faces alongside the old, Oliver Mears' handsome production remains in good health with Mark Elder celebrating 50 years of conducting at the Royal Opera

The Royal Opera's most recent run of Verdi's Rigoletto has been one of those with a rather mix and match cast, made the more complex by illness. We caught the final performance of the run of Oliver Mears' still handsome 2021 production, designed by Simon Lima Holdsworth and Ilona Karas. Rigoletto was sung by Sout Korean baritone Hansung Yoo (a replacement for Daniel Luis de Vicente) with Robin Allegra Parton as Gilda (a role she sang in Jonathan Miller's production at ENO in 2024), and Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan as the Duke. Avetsyan previously at the Royal Opera he sang Lensky in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (in 2024), Alfredo in La traviata and the Duke (in 2021/22). He has more recently been singing the Duke widely. Sir Mark Elder was conducting, marking his 50th anniversary as a conductor at the Royal Opera.

Mears' artful production moves between Renaissance Italy and contemporary to create a particular world with a female nude reminiscent of Titian's Reclining Venus or Giorgione's Sleeping Venus providing a very particular aura for the opening scene.

Liparit Avetisyan proved to be an elegant yet dangerous Duke, in the opening scene adding a vein of viciousness to the stylishness of his singing (and with looks to match). Avetisyan never pushed his voice and he combined the Duke's seductive swagger with an elegance of bearing. As the opera developed there was something deliberately theatrical about him. In the scene in Act One with Robyn Allegra Parton's Gilda he seemed to be deliberately putting on a persona, and this sense carried through. This Duke was all things to all men. Avetisyan never made you think the role was simply a series of well-known arias, his performance was dazzling throughout, and I was completely captivated.

As was Robyn Allegra Parton's Gilda. Parton sang with plangent, speaking tone with great presence. 'Caro Nome' was brilliantly done, but she also gave us a sense that this Gilda was innocent but not completely naive, with an inner strength. This came out in the powerful Act Two scene with her father when Parton pulled the heart strings yet never seemed canary like. In Act Three in this production she has to be dragged around in a body bag and still be terrific for the final duet. She was. Parton was allocated two performances towards the end of the run but on this showing we deserve to be hearing a lot more from her.

Hansung Yoo has sung smaller roles at the Royal Opera, notably Ping in recent performances of Puccini's Turandot, and he sang the title role in Rigoletto for Dorset Opera Festival last year, but this seems to have been his debut in the role at the Royal Opera. If it was, he gave no sense of that and made the role and the production his own. Yoo sang with great beauty of tone throughout allied to a sense of a wonderfully well-supported line and I definitely want to hear him in more Verdi.

This was not the most angry of Rigolettos, in Act One he was very much the sad clown and though in Act Two's 'Cortigiani' he drew on resources of strength there was never quite the angry bitterness. Instead, this was a performance notable for its aura of melancholy and expressive beauty. He made a fine team mate for Parton and Avetisyan as all three had a sense of expressive beauty of tone and none of the three felt the need to push or over emphasise. Yoo made the long scene in Act Two really count, but it was in Act Three that he really came into his own.

The remainder of the cast provided strong ensemble support. Alexander Köpeczi was stiff and scary Sparafucile, definitely not someone to meet on a dark night, with Elena Maximova rather over doing the 'sexy trollop' aspect of Maddalena but providing fine mezzo-soprano support and making this small role musically interesting. The apparently ageless Willard White made Monterone's curse something completely memorable, with Jamie Woollard, Siphe Kwani and Emyr Lloyd Jones as the courtiers Ceprano, Marullo and Borsa. Amanda Baldwin was Countess Ceprano, Elizabeth Weisberg the (female) page and Veena Akama-Makia was Giovanni.

In the pit, Mark Elder brought his familiar mix of crisp discipline and sympathy to the music. From the opening notes of the prelude you really sat up and Elder had a crisp way with Verdi's oom-pah rhythms that made them seem completely right. Yet the vocal lines never felt hurried, but kept moving. This was the sort of Verdi that I enjoy, and the orchestra seemed to do so as well. The chorus was in a similarly engagingly disciplined mood, with plenty of music and movement making the big chorus moments by turns engaging (when narrating Gilda's abduction to the Duke) or scary (when actually doing the abduction or in the Act Two scene with Rigoletto.

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The blog is free, but I'd be delighted if you were to show your appreciation by buying me a coffee.

Elsewhere on this blog

America's 250th, 50 years since Britten's death, Miles Davis's centenary, anniversaries for Weber's Oberon & Varèse's Amériques: BBC Proms 2026 - feature
A delightful jeu d'esprit: a strong cast has great fun with Peter Tranchell's 1950s operetta Twice a Kiss - opera review
The piece that made me fall in love with song: mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston on Schumann's Dichterliebe - interview
MOURN: A vividly theatrical mix of Eastern folk traditions & 17th century Italian music from Alkanna Graeca & Figure - music theatre review
Beautifully wrought & intensely serious: Kitty Whately & Julius Drake explore the songs of Madeleine Dring - record review
Cross-cultural cross currents: Jasdeep Singh Degun with Fantasia Orchestra in Terry Riley's iconic In C performed by string orchestra, piano, sitar and tabla at Smith Square Hall - concert review
Bridging worlds: premiere of Eleanor Alberga's Symphony No. 2 by Academy of St Martin in the Fields plus Bacewicz, Price, Carolyn Shaw - review
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Gluck in French, Sullivan & a contemporary focus on Kaija Saariaho, Elena Langer, Missy Mazzoli, Du Yun & Philip Glass: ENO's 2026/27 season

2026-04-24T09:17:00.000+01:00

English National Opera has announced its 2026/27 season and as with the last couple of seasons the miracle is that the season exists at all. As it is, there are nine operas with six new productions. Eight events in London (one a double bill) and two events in Manchester. At first this does not quite seem the mass migration that was promised, but the season's plans in the North-West include projects such as Creative Incubator and The Artists’ Table along with Greater Manchester Youth Opera Company and working with Factory Academy on vocational training

It is an interesting season with a continuing focus on the new and the contemporary. Inevitably perhaps, large-scale romantic drama is missing, but there are works by Kaija Saariaho, Elena Langer, Missy Mazzoli, Du Yun and Philip Glass alongside Puccini, Gluck, Verdi and Sullivan.

There is a certain focus on non-British singers with a French Tosca, German Adriana Mater, American Bess in Breaking the Waves and American Violetta; a trend that you can regard as worrying or exciting depending on your point of view. If you pair up the significant number of singers whose first language is not English (and whose hard-work I do credit in learning a role in English), allied to the introduction of a Gluck opera in French and you rather wonder whether 'Opera in English' is still at the forefront of the company's philosophy.

Artistic director Annilese Miskimmon is directing a pair of thematically and theatrically connected productions, Puccini's Tosca and Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater.

Do we need another Tosca? Like previous ENO productions, the last one from Christoph Loy in 2022 [see my review] does not seem to have stuck. The cast features French soprano Axelle Fanyo and American tenor Chaz’men Williams-Ali along with Christopher Purves and Craig Colclough sharing the role of Scarpia. Ben Glassberg conducts.

Miskimmon is positing Saariaho's Adriana Mater as some sort of response to Tosca and ENO is performing both operas on the same day on one occasion. It remains to be seen whether the linking is anything more than a chance to reuse the same set, but it is a valuable opportunity to see Saariaho's second opera. The work sets a French libretto by Amin Maalouf and the work premiered at the Paris Opera in 2006, with its UK premiere in 2008 when Edward Gardner conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra in concert. ENO perform in English in a translation by Maalouf's son. André de Ridder, music director designate, conducts with a cast including German mezzo-soprano Kristina Stanek in the title role with Lauren Fagan (in her ENO debut), Caspar Singh (who made such an impression last year as Albert Herring, see my review) and Leigh Melrose.

A further new production is raising all sorts of queries. Whilst any production of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride is welcome the wide open spaces of the London Coliseum seem somewhat unsympathetic for the piece, and it is being entrusted to theatre director Lyndsey Turner. Turner is not known for her opera directing and Gluck's French operas are a challenge. What is also causing comment is that the company is singing the work in French.

Really. Why?

David Bates conducts with a strong cast featuring Christine Rice in the title role, plus Nick Pritchard, Jacques Imbrailo and Morgan Pearse. Blackheath Halls Opera really leaned into the homoeroticism of the work in their production last year [see my review], so it will be interesting to see what direction Turner takes the piece.

Nederlandse Reisopera is currently performing Elena Langer's comedy To die for. The work was originally commissioned by the Stanislavski-Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre in Moscow, this comic opera was cancelled after the invasion of Ukraine. The piece was deemed insufficiently patriotic. Now the company is bringing the opera to the London Coliseum for a single date. Extravagant but most welcome. Directed by Sam Brown (Nederlandse Reisopera's artistic director) and conducted by Adrian Kelly (artistic director of the Buxton Festival) the cast features Paul Curievici, James Hall, and Idunnu Münch.

Missy Mazzoli's 2016 opera Breaking the Waves, based on Lars von Trier's film, was given its European premiere by Scottish Opera in 2019. Now a new production at ENO is bringing the work to London for the first time. Directed by Tinuke Craig, who returns to ENO following her Olivier Award-nominated production of Blue (2023), the conductor is Joana Carneiro who made strong impressions with her recent ENO performances of Thea Musgrave's Mary Queen of Scots [see my review] and Poul Rouders' The Handmaid's Tale [see my review]. American soprano Lauren Snouffer makes her ENO debut as Bess having sung the role at Houston Grand Opera, and Liam James Karai as Jan [we saw him as Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Opera North, see my review].

Conductor Peter Whelan takes a break from Handel and Vivaldi operas [see my review of Handel's Rodelinda at Garsington last year which Whelan conducted] and conducts a double bill of operas by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Scottish Opera's production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury directed by John Savournin [seen at Opera Holland Park last year, see my review] is joined by Savournin's new production of the early Sullivan opera The Zoo (libretto by Bolton Rowe). Mary Bevan and Robert Murray are the protagonists in both operas with Neal Davies, and Madeleine Shaw.

New in Manchester is Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach in an 'experiential production' created by English National Opera, Factory International, Park Avenue Armory, and Improbable at Aviva Studios, with the BBC Philharmonic, directed by Phelim McDermott.

Du Yun's opera Angel's Bone, which has a libretto by Royce Vavrek who also wrote Breaking the Waves for Missy Mazzoli, comes to London having debuted in Manchester in May 2026. Australian director Kip Williams makes his UK operatic debut, with Baldur Brönnimann conducting with Allison Cook as Mrs X.E., Rodney Earl Clarke as Mr X.E., Mariam Wallentin as Girl Angel, Matthew McKinney as Boy Angel, and Keith Pun as Male Soprano, plus Kantos Chamber Choir.

Peter Konwitschny’s stripped back production of Verdi's La Traviata returns with American soprano Heidi Stober [who made a big impression in the title role of Musgrave's Mary, Queen of Scots] and Alison Langer [who returned to Opera Holland Park in the role last year, see my review] and Russian-Ukrainian tenor Egor Zhuravskii, and baritone David Stout.

Spanish conductor Néstor Bayona is the 2026-28 Mackerras Fellow. He will be the first to be mentored by ENO’s Music Director Designate, André de Ridder. Soprano Olivia Rose Tringham and baritone Steffan Lloyd Owen are new Harewood Artists for the 2026/27 season with sopranos Madeline Boreham, Ava Dodd and Henna Mun, mezzo-soprano Anna Elizabeth Cooper, tenors Osian Wyn Bowen and Samuel Downes, baritone Dan D'Souza, and bass-baritone Alaric Green continuing.

In September, ENO in partnership with the Royal Northern College of Music will begin delivery of its new Creative Incubator project, supporting the development of early-stage operatic ideas from artists based in the North West, with priority given to Greater Manchester. Also launching in 2026/27 is The Artists’ Table, a new initiative bringing together a panel of North West-based artists to help shape ENO’s work in the region, ensuring it remains relevant, inclusive and representative.

ENO’s Greater Manchester Youth Opera Company, for young people aged 11-14, launches its pilot phase in July 2026, bringing together 30 participants from across Greater Manchester. Delivered in partnership with the Greater Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen Music Hub and the Royal Northern College of Music, the programme offers hands-on experience of opera-making, from performance to design and composition, with a focus on engaging young people currently underrepresented in the sector.

ENO and Factory International will work together to extend Factory Academy’s vocational training offer into opera, with a particular focus on technical and backstage roles. Factory Academy, which was launched by Factory International in 2018, will offer paid placements on Angel’s Bone (2026) and Einstein on the Beach (2027) at Aviva Studios, creating new pathways into opera production for people living in Greater Manchester, particularly those from backgrounds underrepresented in the arts.

Perfect Pitch, co-created with Walk the Plank, concludes this summer with a large-scale performance at We Invented the Weekend in Salford. Bringing together community choirs, football fans and ENO artists, including tenor Luis Gomes, the project celebrates the unexpected connections between football and opera

In 2026/27, ENO’s free national schools programme Finish This… continues in primary, secondary and SEND settings, delivered in partnership with ONE Education Music Hub in Greater Manchester, alongside Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen, Wigan, Luton and Southampton Music Hubs. Finish This… supports high-quality music-making in classrooms across England, with more than 18,500 students taking part during the 2025/26 academic year. Applications for the next academic year open in May 2026, with the ambition of reaching 25,000 pupils.

Full details from the ENO website.