2023 in concert reviews: Gavin Higgins x2, Allan Clayton's Samson, Reginald Mobley in Bayreuth, the Pink Singers & Brixton Chamber Orchestra both party and Bitches Brew is back

Gavin Higgins: Beano Concerto - George Jackson, Colin Currie, BBC Concert Orchestra - Royal Festival Hall (Photo: BBC / Mark Allan)

Our list begins and ends with community events. The year began with a fragment of my own musical history, the Pink Singers, an ensemble I directed for five years in the 1980s, celebrated their 40th anniversary. Then in December, our local ensemble, the Brixton Chamber Orchestra certainly put us in party mood.

Both Handel and Bach feature, of course. In April Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra explored the original Dublin version of Messiah, whilst in December, Wild Arts presented a more traditional edition in an imaginative, intimate semi-staging. Allan Clayton joined Lawrence Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music for Handel's Samson at the Proms. We heard Bach's St Matthew Passion with the choir of Kings College, London and Bach's Easter Oratorio from Florilegium. Vox Luminis brought sheer musicality to Bach's Mass in B minor. Other Early Music included Figure's imaginative staging of Buxtehude's remarkable Membra Jesu Nostri. At the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival, countertenor Reginald Mobley gave us Purcell, rare Handel cantatas and Ignatius Sancho.

Jérémie Rhorer and Le Cercle de l'Harmonie combined the music of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn with the texts that inspired them. Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake enchanted in songs by Robert & Clara Schumann, Schubert, Henze and Mahler all setting texts by Rückert. Nigel Foster's London Song Festival presented the world premiere of Granville Bantock's remarkable Oscar Wilde setting, The Sphinx.

Colin Currie and the BBC Concert Orchestra celebrated The Beano including the premiere of a new concerto by Gavin Higgins, and we caught up with Higgins' The Faerie Bride at the Three Choirs Festival.

Our correspondent, Florence, helped the Kronos Quartet celebrate its 50th anniversary, and enjoyed a modern recreation of Miles Davies' iconic Bitches Brew.

Handel: Samson - Allan Clayton - Philharmonia Chorus, Academy of Ancient Music, Laurence Cummings - BBC Proms (Photo: BBC/ Sisi Burn)

Explore our full selection below:

• Party! London's LGBT+ community choir, the Pink Singers, celebrates 40 years at the Cadogan Hall
• This is my body: Figure's imaginative rethinking of Buxtehude's intense sung devotion, Membra Jesu Nostri
• Reclaiming Handel's first thoughts: Peter Whelan directs Irish Baroque Orchestra in the Dublin version of Messiah
• The sheer sense of engagement from the young choral singers was a joy: Bach's St Matthew Passion from Choir of King's College, London at St John's Smith Square  
• A joyous Easter celebration from Florilegium at Wigmore Hall, Bach's glorious Easter Oratorio alongside three striking contemporary instrumental works
• Ein Sommernachtstraum in Essen: Jérémie Rhorer and Le Cercle de l'Harmonie in an imaginative evening combining music by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn with the texts that inspired them 
• Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed at the Orchestra: A more than enjoyable event celebrating The Beano with Colin Currie and the BBC Concert Orchestra
• Rückert lieder: Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake in songs by Robert & Clara Schumann, Schubert, Henze and Mahler
• I have rarely heard Bach's Mass in B minor performed with such consistency of style, integrity and sheer musicality: Vox Luminis at Wigmore Hall
• Eclectic mix: Gavin Higgins' The Faerie Bride is a highlight at the Three Choirs Festival alongside a new Ronald Corp piece & Vaughan Williams' Flos Campi
• A remarkable premiere: Granville Bantock's The Sphinx at the London Song Festival 
• Large-scale drama: Allan Clayton, Philharmonia Chorus, Academy of Ancient Music, Laurence Cummings in Handel's Samson
• From Purcell and Handel to Ignatius Sancho and Duke Ellington: American countertenor Reginald Mobley at Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival
• Long may they continue! Kronos Quartet's celebratory 50th anniversary concert at the Barbican
• Epic re-imagining of Miles Davis’ legendary album Bitches Brew in the first ever performance from super group London Brew
• A sense of dramatic narrative: Wild Arts in Handel's Messiah at The Art Workers' Guild 
• Like no other: Brixton Chamber Orchestra's Christmas party moved from classical and carols to rap, disco and a Shane MacGowan tribute
  

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• A sense of dramatic narrative: Wild Arts in Handel's Messiah at The Art Workers' Guild - concert review
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