Light & shade: Laurence Cummings, Academy of Ancient Music & a terrific cast make Handel's Serse into a captivating & engaging evening in the theatre

Handel: Serse - Paula Murrihy, Louise Alder - Academy of Ancient Music, the Barbican (Photo: Mark Allan)

Handel: Serse; Paula Murrihy, Louise Alder, Rachel Redmond, Rebecca Leggett, Claudia Huckle, Luca Tittoto, Thomas Chenhall, Academy of Ancient Music, Laurence Cummings; Barbican Hall
Reviewed 19 June 2026

A lightly staged concert performance which wore scholarship and technical prowess lightly, bringing out the light and shade in Handel's opera and making a captivating and engaging evening

Perhaps because Nicholas Hytner's 1985 production at English National Opera cast such a long shadow (it was last revived in 2014 with Alice Coote and Sarah Tynan, see my review) stagings of Handel's Serse are not particularly common and recent London outings have been in concert. 

In concert, the performance can avoid taking too much of a stand on how funny the opera is. During Handel's lifetime performances would have been notable for the way the work wrong-footed audiences. Presented as an opera seria, it avoids many of the standard tropes: arias are often short, less than half the arias are da capo and the exit aria is rare. The whole opening scene has a fluidity that we now know looks forward to Handel's methods in oratorio, creating large structures from smaller segments. But after the hero's opening cavatina (here Serse's 'Ombra mai fui') audiences would have expected him to get a big aria and leave. Not a bit. And then the heroine's opening aria is variously done off-stage and interrupted! The result is a naturalism that modern audiences enjoy but which would have wrong-footed contemporary listeners and which means we can never really recapture the opera's original effect.

On Friday 19 June 2026, Laurence Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music chose to present Handel's Serse at the Barbican Centre with a very light dramatic touch in a concert staging blessedly free from concept and featuring a strong cast. Paula Murrihy was Serse with Louise Alder as Romilda, Rachel Redmond as Atalanta, Rebecca Leggett as Arsamene, Claudia Huckle as Amastre, Luca Tittoto as Ariodate and Thomas Chenhall as Elviro.

Handel: Serse - Rebecca Leggett, Rachel Redmond - Academy of Ancient Music, the Barbican (Photo: Mark Allan)

Handel's original cast featured a rather intriguing mix of gender bending. The title role was sung by a soprano castrato (Caffarelli) with Arsamene played 'en travestie' by a woman, then the (female) contralto playing Amastre actually spends most of the opera disguised as a man! Nowadays Serse is sung by female mezzo-sopranos though I have heard it sung by a countertenor (Jake Arditti sang it at Longborough in 2015, see my review) and the gender-fluid aspect of the piece does not seem to have been much explored. At the Barbican, Murrihy, Leggett and Huckle all presented as women dressed as men and the audience accepted it admirably with none of the titters that marred the recent performance of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito at The Grange Festival where some audience members seemed to find a female singer referring to herself as a male character as something innately funny. As Frankie Howerd might have said, 'titter ye not'.

Exploring Sullivan's range & experiencing how he evolves artistically: conductor John Andrews on his continuing exploration of the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan including a new disc of songs

John Andrews at recording sessions for his disc of Sullivan songs

When conductor John Andrews and I met up for a chat recently, it was the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan that was high on the agenda thanks to the release of John's new disc, Sir Arthur Sullivan: Songs for Tenor with tenor David Webb and the Academy of Ancient Music on Resonus Classics, and his recent recording of Sullivan's The Martyr of Antioch for Dutton.

Rather appropriately, a week before we met the news had come through that three deleted songs from Iolanthe had been found hiding in plain sight in the British Library. One song had been performed at the work's New York premiere but was then dropped and the others never made it at all. John points out that because of the Sullivan tradition continuing through the D'Oyley Carte Company, any music not part of the D'Oyley Carte canon effectively disappeared without trace. [Further details]

John raises the fascinating point that if Sullivan's music had disappeared after his death like that of his contemporaries such as Parry and Stanford, then when his music was being rediscovered in the later 20th century we might have chosen a different set of pieces to focus on. As it is, he was revered for one part of his output whilst the rest disappeared from consciousness.

For John's new Sullivan disc on Resonus Classics he is joined by tenor David Webb and the Academy of Ancient Music for a recital that mixes classic tenor arias from the Gilbert & Sullivan operas with numbers from Sullivan's oratorios - The Golden Legend, The Light of the World and The Prodigal Son - a number from The Rose of Persia (which Sullivan wrote with Basil Hood) and the song, The Lost Chord. The result is a mix of writing with Sullivan in comic, lyrical and serious mode spanning virtually the whole of the composer's vocal writing life from The Prodigal Son in 1869 (before his collaboration with Gilbert began) to The Rose of Persia in 1899 (after the collaboration with Gilbert ended). John feels that the programme enables us both to see Sullivan's range and to experience how he evolves artistically, as well as giving David Webb the chance to showcase his variety. Whereas Sullivan's oratorios were written for classically trained singers, his operas with Gilbert were written for singing actors and so the music requires lyricism but also attention to the nuance of meaning. And John adds that when recording this disc it was the first time that he was able to record music that he had been familiar with for decades!

When discussing the use of period instruments in the recording John's eyes lit up. He comments that late-19th century composers were concerned with the timbral quality of the music, exploring sounds and colours. With period instruments the orchestra is able to bring out a greater range of contrast so the gut strings give a transparency around the voice, the narrow bore brass are less dominant (and the instruments used include Gustav Holst's trombone) and there are contrasts in the wind colours. The result is more colourful with the instruments as characters in the drama. Also, John points out that you can enjoy the richness of Sullivan's inner part writing.

Living Voices: Whitehall Choir, Ian Tindale & Joanna Tomlinson to give premiere of Russell Hepplewhite's choral cycle setting contemporary poets' responses to the modern world

I first came across the composer Russell Hepplewhite in 2013 when English Touring Opera performed his opera Laika the Spacedog at the Science Museum in London [see my review]. Described as an opera in one act for young audiences, I was impressed by the way the piece mixed contemporary music, lively sing-along pieces which had been learned beforehand by the young attendees and science Q&As which chimed in with the National Curriculum. Oh, and a theremin which was played at various times by all members of the cast! The opera went on to win European awards, and Hepplewhite followed it up with Shackleton's Cat [see my review] , Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with no Feathers [see my review] and Silver Electra [see my review] all for English Touring Opera's family performances, and The Price [see my review] and Ever Young for W11 Children's Opera.  Most recently his opera for adults, The Crash was commissioned by Oldenburg State Theatre in Germany.

But Hepplewhite doesn't just write opera, and on Wednesday 24 June 2026, Whitehall Choir, conductor Joanna Tomlinson with Ian Tindale, piano, will give the first complete performance of Hepplewhite's Living Voices at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge. 

Living Voices is a collection of ten choral pieces with piano setting ten contemporary poems on inspiring subjects. Hepplewhite invited ten outstanding British poets to create poetic responses to our world today - Mona Arshi; Pam Ayres; Fiona Benson; Joseph Coelho; Wendy Cope; Jamila Gavin; Roger McGough; Andrew Motion; Alice Oswald; Michael Rosen.

The resulting pieces are diverse reflections cover birth and death, youth and age, sickness and health, and landscape and memory.

Whitehall Choir gave the premiere performance of Russell Hepplewhite’s setting of Alice Oswald’s poem Riddle last year. They were then asked if they would like to record the full 10 pieces in the Living Voices project. Following Wednesday's performance, Whitehall Choir will be recording the work in collaboration with the First Hand Records.

On Wednesday, the evening will also feature a further world premiere: two newly composed songs by Russell Hepplewhite based on poems by the UK Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage. These will be performed by baritone Marcus Farnsworth and pianist Ian Tindale. 

Full details from the Whitehall Choir's website. 

 

To encourage Birmingham’s young people to get involved with creative opportunities & training: Birmingham Opera Company's Voices of the Future

Almost 1 million young people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training. And in Birmingham, more than double the national average of young people are on Universal Credit and looking for work.  Birmingham Opera Company is launching its Voices of the Future programme to encourage Birmingham’s young people aged 16 to 24 to get involved with creative opportunities and training.

Birmingham Opera Company has been specially selected by Big Give to receive match funding for Voices of the Future. Through Big Give’s Small Charity week, 22nd-29th June, they’re aiming to raise £10,000 to provide opportunities for Birmingham’s young people.

Over the last year, Birmingham Opera Company has been out-and-about speaking to young people and creating networks with youth centres to deliver opportunities. [The company's website has more about this work including Sandwell Creates, and Four Hubs.]

Eager to play their part in building a healthy and creative future for the next generation of artists and creatives, the company is turning all of their resources towards supporting Birmingham’s young people via the Voices of the Future programme. They’ll deliver hands-on training and mentoring for young people, aiming to reduce isolation and disengagement, whilst increasing confidence and building skills.  

Visit birminghamopera.org.uk or BigGive.org to donate from 22 June 2026 at 12 noon to 29 June 2026 at 5pm to give and double your impact!

The Sixteen at St James's: a new partnership providing the choir with its first London home

Harry Christophers, The Sixteen & Genesis Sixteen alumni at St James's Piccadilly (Photo: Ian Jones Photography)

The Sixteen first collaborated with St James's Piccadilly back in 2019 when the church became the home for The Sixteen's annual celebration of things choral, Sounds Sublime, an event which focuses on young people and emerging talent. Since then there have been various other collaborative events.

This week the relationship was formalised as it was announced that The Sixteen and St James's Piccadilly are embarking on a five-year partnership supported by The Genesis Foundation. This will be the first time that The Sixteen (found back in 1976) have had a London home. The partnership takes place within the context of St James's ambitious Wren Project which is restoring and renewing the fabric of the church including restoring the organ (which has not been played for 45 years) within its historic organ case. This will require the partnership to decamp to St Pancras Church for two years, from 2027, whilst the St James's Church is closed.

The announcement took place within the context of an event this week at St James's when Harry Christophers conducted The Sixteen in a selection of music which reflected various aspects of the ensembles work. They began with Byrd's Civitas sancti tui which reflected the type of music the ensemble performed in its founding year. 

The Sixteen's residency will mean that the opening performance of the annual Choral Pilgrimage will take place at St James's (previously London performances of the Choral Pilgrimage programme have varied between Croydon Minster, Kings Place and the Old Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich). Begun in 2000, the Choral Pilgrimage sees The Sixteen setting off on some 25 performances around the country, mainly to cathedrals and collegiate churches. That first tour began in York and ended in Canterbury, but in the future each will begin at St James's. The repertoire involves both the well-known and the lesser known. 

We heard The Sixteen perform Morir no puo il mio core by Maddalena Casulana, the 16th century composer the discovery of whose work has been an important factor in recent years. In complete contrast was Kerensa Briggs' Lead, kindly light, written for this year's Choral Pilgrimage [see my review] and performed at St James's by The Sixteen along with eight Genesis Sixteen alumni.

Also, from December 2027 the Sixteen's annual performance of Handel's Messiah will take place at St James's.

The partnership will involve the wider Sixteen family as well. Sounds Sublime will continue at St James's whilst during the year there will be four choral evensongs sung by The Sixteen, Genesis Sixteen and Genesis Sixteen Alumni ensembles. Genesis Sixteen, the ensemble's young artists programme, continues to provide fully funded places for 22 young singers annually, thanks to the Genesis Foundation. In addition to the year of training (which involves two week-long courses and two weekend courses) the programme helps the young singers develop relationships and many of the young ensembles performing in Sounds Sublime arose because of friendships made in Genesis Sixteen.

And the church will continue to be a home for new choral music commissions performed by The Sixteen and Genesis Sixteen. These commissions have included an impressive 33 works commissioned for The Sixteen by the Genesis Foundation.

St James's will also support The Sixteen's Learning and Participation Programme, Ignite, with a programme of activity within the parish. Plans for Ignite include a new, free digital schools pack and during the evening we heard three works, by Will Todd, Bob Chilcott and Lucy Walker which The Sixteen have recorded as part of this digital pack. And there are plans for a choral academy for 16 to 18-year-olds.

The final two performances at St James's showcased both the new and the old. Another rediscovery was 16th-century Franco-Flemish composer Jean Guyot de Chatelet's Benedicta es caelorum Regina where he had added six extra parts to an existing Josquin motet to remarkable and wonderfully rich effect. The evening ended with James MacMillan's Nothing in Vain, his setting of words by John Henry Newman, commissioned by the Genesis Foundation in 2021 for the canonisation of John Henry Newman and performed at St James's by The Sixteen and the eight Genesis Sixteen alumni, a truly remarkable piece which I first heard at the Choral Pilgrimage earlier this year and really benefits from multiple hearings.

 Further details from St James's Piccadilly's website.

American themes at Aldeburgh: Tony Cooper enjoys a quartet by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson & an absorbing orchestral programme highlighting Elizabeth Ogonek.

Sphinx Piano Quintet: Nathan Amaral, Elena Urioste, Celia Hatton, Sterling Elliott, Amiri Harewood - Aldeburgh Festival (Photo: BPA)

Perkinson: String Quartet No.1 ‘Calvary’, Vaughan Williams: Rondo for Piano, Still: Suite for Cello and Piano, arr. Randall Goosby, Cassie Kinoshi: Songs of Kinship, Bridge: Phantasie Piano Quartet, Price: Piano Quintet No.1; Sphinx Piano Quintet (Nathan Amaral, Elena Urioste, Celia Hatton, Sterling Elliott, Amiri Harewood); Britten Studio, Snape Maltings

Elizabeth Ogonek: All These Lighted Things, Ravel: Piano Concerto in G, Ryan Wigglesworth: Piano Concerto, Ravel: La Valse; Steven Osborne, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth; Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Reviewed by Tony Cooper, 14 June 2026 

In the afternoon at the Aldeburgh Festival, the first quartet by black American composer, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, proved a revelation particularly with its fusion of classical-based music tinged with the genre of jazz and blues.  An absorbing and exciting evening programme came from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra highlighting the music of American contemporary composer, Elizabeth Ogonek. 

I was more than interested to learn more about 1932-born black American composer, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, who was on the bill for the Sphinx Piano Quintet’s concert at the Britten Studio, Snape Maltings. Specifically named in honour of the celebrated Afro-British composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) reflected his parents’ admiration for black excellence in classical music. 

He wrote a couple of string quartets in quick succession and his first quartet entitled ‘Calvary’ was the first item on an excellent programme curated by the Sphinx Piano Quintet, a dynamic artist-driven chamber ensemble formed under the acclaimed Sphinx Organization established in Detroit by Aaron P. Dworkin in 1996. A social justice and educational enterprise, Sphinx is dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts with a specific mission to champion exceptionally talented black and Latinx classical musicians. 

Both men were trailblazers of their day bridging classical music with their respective black heritage. Samuel was a renowned composer in late 19th-century London while Perkinson was a highly-versatile American composer whose work, although based on the classical idiom, also employed the genre of jazz and blues. Therefore, Perkinson’s first quartet, a three-movement work written in 1956, blends a traditional classical-based format with elements of jazz, blues and spirituals.  

Launch of UK Choir of the Year with applications open from 25 June

A new national competition is aiming to celebrate choral excellence. UK Choir of the Year is inviting amateur choirs in all genres from across the UK to compete with a final at Milton Court on 10 April 2026.

Founded by BAFTA judge and sound editor Lucy Mitchell, UK Choir of the Year aims to celebrate the breadth and quality of amateur choral singing across the UK. From 25 June, choirs are invited to apply. Following a preliminary video audition round, 18 selected finalists in three categories will perform live at Milton Court for the final.

The judges are composer Will Todd, conductor and vocal specialist Dan Ludford-Thomas, conductor and gospel specialist Karen Gibson and West End performer Alice Fearn.

Founder Lucy Mitchell commented, "There are thousands of amateur singers across the UK achieving remarkable things every week. We created UK Choir of the Year to celebrate that talent and provide choirs with a national platform on which to share their work." 

Dan Ludford-Thomas rehearsing for the UK Choir of the Year launch concert at Cadogan Hall (Photo: Jon Webber )

Full details from the UK Choir of the Year website. 

Bringers of Dreams: BREMF Emerging Artists announced for the 2026 festival

This year's Brighton Early Music Festival (BREMF), Bringers of Dreams, runs from 2 to 25 October 2026 with events focused on the four weekends. 

The BREMF Emerging Artist scheme is an important part of the Festival. As well as offering offering performance opportunities in the Festival, BREMF Emerging Artists are supported with advice, mentoring and training opportunities as well as a 4-day residency at Hawkwood College in Gloucestershire, offering the opportunity for development and growth. Alumni of the scheme are very much part of the BREMF ‘family’ and continue to be supported with references, opportunities and collaborations.

This year's BREMF Emerging Artist ensembles are the five-part early music vocal ensemble Bruegel Consort, Les Acolytes, an ensemble specialising in French music of the 17th and 18th centuries, the instrumental ensemble Themelion, and Thow Cornwall Duo. All will be appearing at the BREMF Emerging Artists ensembles showcase and clubnight on Saturday 10 October at St Paul's Church.

This year's BREMF Emerging Artist vocalists are sopranos Ruby Skilbeck and Emma Warner, contralto Laura Toomey, and tenor Hugo Williamson. All will be involved in the performance of Purcell's The Fairy Queen with the London Handel Players on Friday 9 October 2026.

Other highlights of the festival include City of Dreams: a Florentine extravaganza with the Monteverdi String Band, BREMF Consort of Voices and The Royal Sackbut Collective (2025 BREMF Emerging Artists), Spiritato's The Planets (Pre-imagined): an orchestral journey through the 17th-century solar system, The Fine Hand in a programme of European and North American Ballads, and Lassus's Lamentations with Utopia Ensemble.

Dowland Day will feature a lunchtime concert with tenor Kieran White [see my review of his recent disc of Dowland and Danyel] and The Republic of Viols, an early evening concert with Dowland’s Foundry and a late night concert by soprano Ruby Hughes and lutenist Jonas Nordberg.

Full details from the BREMF website. 

Truly captivating: bass baritone Nicola Alaimo & pianist Carlo Rizzi celebrate Opera Rara's Donizetti Song Project with songs by Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini & Mercadante

Carlo Rizzi & Nicola Alaimo at Wigmore Hall (Photo: Russell Duncan)

Donizetti & Friends: Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini, Mercadante; Nicola Alaimo, Carlo Rizzi, Hetty Snell; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed 16 June 2026

Superb bel canto technique & brilliant comic timing make Nicola Alaimo's contribution to this concert of early 19th century Italian song something rather special, delightful & captivating.

Opera Rara is celebrating the completion of its Donizetti Song Project, eight discs of songs covering the whole of Donizetti's song output allied to a new edition of the solo songs created by Roger Parker and Ian Schofield. The eighth and final volume of songs, from bass baritone Nicola Alaimo and pianist Carlo Rizzi, has just been released [see Opera Rara website]. To celebrate Nicola Alaimo joined Carlo Rizzi and cellist Hetty Snell at Wigmore Hall on Tuesday 16 June 2026 for a lunchtime recital pairing Donizetti's songs with those of Rossini, Bellini and Mercadante.

I remember talking to a singer about Italian songs from later in the 19th century, particularly those of Tosti. The singer said that the songs were a challenge because they took for granted the singer's technique! This thought came back to me during Nicola Alaimo's recital as I realised that to make these songs work you needed a firm bel canto technique.

Most of the songs in the recital were based around an expressive melody over some sort of flowing piano accompaniment. They were all about the voice, and the way you used the melody for expressive purposes. Whether they were serious and intense or simply comic, Alaimo projected each song with maximum expressivity whilst always ensuring the primacy of expressive line. Yet his diction was admirable throughout, his lyric technique was no barrier to making the words count too. Unlike some opera singers, Alaimo seemed comfortable on the concert platform and proved a delightful companion and guide through the songs.

Breaking new ground: Ruth Gipps's Goblin Market, her important setting of Christina Rossetti's iconic poem to be brought to life by upper-voice ensemble Corra Sound

Christina Rossetti's 1862 poem Goblin Market tells the story of sisters Laura and Lizzie, who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants. The poem is interpreted frequently as having features of remarkably sexual imagery, and has been viewed as an expression of Rossetti's feminist and homosexual politics.

In 1954 the English composer Ruth Gipps set her own adaptation of Goblin Market for two soprano solos, female chorus and string orchestra. 

Mary Arsenau of University of Ottawa's Department of English comments "Gipps’s score and adapted libretto convey significant and innovative perspectives on Goblin Market that arguably make her composition a prescient innovation in the critical history of this poem. Specifically, Gipps's decidedly female musical perspective on Rossetti's poem breaks new interpretative ground that anticipates the feminist literary interpretations of Rossetti's work that really only began their strong emergence in literary critical history in the 1970s."

Amazingly, Gipps important score has not been heard for 70 years!

All this is about to change as Corra Sound, a professional upper-voice ensemble to bringing the works of female composers out of the shadows, plans to perform and record the work. The performance takes place on 3 July 2026 at Holy Trinity Church, Guildford with Corra Sound, Great Little Orchestra, conductor Amy Bebbington, with a recording of the work taking place the following week to be issued by Convivium Records in 2027.

The concert will be preceded by a pre-concert conversation between daughter-in-law Dr Victoria Rowe and writer Jessica Duchen.

Corra Sound has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the project. Further information about the concert from EventBrite.

Latvian Music Information Centre launches a new online store with sheet music by Latvian composers

The Latvian Music Information Centre (LMIC) has launched an online sheet music store on its website offering a growing selection of previously unpublished works by Latvian composers. The LMIC sheet music store currently offers nearly one hundred scores by both celebrated Latvian classical composers and contemporary creators, and the list keeps growing week by week.

The Latvian Music Information Centre collects, organises, and disseminates information about Latvian composers, their creative work, and developments within Latvia’s music scene. It maintains the largest online database of Latvian music and musicians, serving as a comprehensive resource for professionals and audiences alike.

Commenting on the LMIC’s new initiative, composer Rolands Kronlaks, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Composers’ Union said: "The launch of the sheet music sales platform marks an important step in improving the accessibility and visibility of Latvian music. It also provides a structured framework for cataloguing Latvian composers’ scores and encourages composers to organise, update, and preserve their sheet music materials."

Further information from the LMIC website.

A day at Aldeburgh: Lise Davidsen's Aldeburgh Festival début in Schubert and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande semi-staged

Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande - Myrna Tennant, Camilla Seale, Phoebe Rayner - Aldeburgh Festival (Photo: Craig Fuller)

Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade; Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister; Der Tod und das Mädchen; Erlkönig; Lise Davidsen soprano, James Baillieu piano; Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande; Jacques Imbrailo (Pelléas), Sophie Bevan (Mélisande), Gordon Bintner (Golaud), Sarah Connolly (Geneviève), Nicolas Testé (Arkël), Beth Stirling (Yniold); dir: Rory Kinnear, set/costume designer Vicki Mortimer, lighting designers Paule Constable/Imogen Clark; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, cond. Ryan Wigglesworth; Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Reviewed by Tony Cooper, 13 June 2026

Making her Aldeburgh Festival début, Lise Davidsen delivered a memorable afternoon recital of Schubert Lieder brilliantly accompanied by the pianist, James Baillieu. In the evening, the semi-staged performance of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande highlighted the brilliance of the orchestral playing from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ryan Wigglesworth and the conversational clarity of the singers with Sophie Bevan and Jacques Imbrailo in the title roles. 

[Elsewhere on Planet Hugill, Robert chats to James Baillieu about his new role on the Britten Pears Arts Young Artist Programme and to Ryan Wigglesworth about being Featured Artist at this year's festival]

I was more than proud being a member of the audience when Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen made her Bayreuth Festival début in 2019 as Elisabeth in Tobias Kratzer’s outstanding but unconventional modern staging of Tannhäuser. [see Tony's review] The show featured an odd assortment of characters up to no good either riding a battered old Citroën Type-H van (Venusberg on wheels), nicking burgers from Burger King or siphoning off petrol - and the rest! Get the picture?

Her Bayreuth performance was immaculate, catapulting her into the upper echelons of the opera world while cementing her status as one of the world’s leading Wagnerians. Her Aldeburgh début follows suit. I found it satisfying being in the cosy, comfortable and spartan space of the Snape Maltings Concert Hall harbouring acoustics, I feel, perfect for voice and piano and so ideal for Davidsen singing Schubert Lieder.

James Baillieu, Lise Davidsen - Aldeburgh Festival (Photo: Britten Pears Arts)

Admirably accompanied by James Baillieu on piano, Davidsen opened with such glowing and accurate accounts of Gretchen am Spinnrade and Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister, a couple of acclaimed art-songs that Schubert set to texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Celebrating with a flourish: York Early Music Festival celebrates its 50th edition with a new fanfare from composer Sam Meredith

This July, York Early Music Festival celebrates its 50th edition, running from 3 to 11 July 2026 under the title Beyond Borders, and featuring some of the UK’s most extraordinary medieval churches, historic buildings and the world-famous Minster.

To mark this special occasion has commissioned the majestic York Fanfare, Flourish at 50 to be played during the opening weekend. The fanfare has been created by composer Sam Meredith and will be played by the all female German ensemble [hanse] Pfeyffery. Wakefield born Meredith was finalist in the 2023 NCEM Young Composers Award, Meredith was selected from a strong line up of applicants, all alumni from the Young Composers Award, to be this year’s Commission Composer for the York Early Music Festival.  

The York Fanfare will open this year’s festival on Friday 3 July outside The Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall at the University of York at 6.20pm before the opening concert by I Fagiolini, and also outside York Minster before the concert by The Sixteen on Saturday 4 July at 6.45pm, 7.00pm, and 7.15pm. 

The festival opens with Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers presented by I Fagiolini with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble and closes with Solomon’s Knot in Bruhns’s St Mark Passion. Also appearing are: The Sixteen; B’Rock Orchestra & Vocal Consort; Imago Mundi; Paul Agnew, Helen Charlston with Sergio Bucheli and Steven Devine. The festival also marks John Dowland's 400th anniversary with Dowland Day, a whole day devoted to his works including concerts by lutenist Thomas Dunford; the Rose Consort of Viols; and Flanders based Imago Mundi, directed by Sofie Vanden Eynde. 

This year features two young European ensembles Anacronía from Spain, and the Franco/American medievalists Contre le temps, along with the York International Young Artists Competition with finalists I Mastricelli; Il Parrasio; La Mandorle; Lagrime; Nari Baroque Ensemble; Ossian’s Dream; Quarterino; The Lyons Mouth; and Tra Noi.

Full details from the festival website. 

Zelenka, a focus on India, new & old seasons: 2026 Viljandi Early Music Festival, Estonia's oldest festival in one of the countries most attractive historic towns

Viljandi is an historic town in southern Estonia, founded in 1283, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Viljandi and surrounded by forest. The town is notable for its ruined castle and collection of historic town buildings, along with green spaces, cultural attractions and culinary delights. We had a pleasant few days there in 2024 on our way to Tartu for a performance of my music.

Amongst the town's cultural attractions is the Viljandi Early Music Festival, the oldest festival in Estonia.  The 41st edition of the festival runs from 15 to 17 July 2026, this year under the joint directorship of Andres Mustonen (who founded the Estonian early music group Hortus Musicus in 1972) and Heili Vaus-Tamm (whom I first met in 2016 when she was part of the team presenting the Brigitta Festival in the ruins of the Pirita Convent in Tallinn, see my review)

The festival opens with Andres Mustonen conducting the Hortus Musicus Baroque Orchestra and Moran Singers Ensemble in Zelenka's Missa Votiva (Thanksgiving Mass). Zelenka wrote this festive mass for Dresden in 1739 where Zelenka had worked at the Saxon court since 1719. 

A new festival tradition is a focus on a particular country, this year India with an evening of Indian ragas and artists from India including Mukesh Sharma (sarod) and Moumala Nayak (Kathak dance) being joined from Estonia are tabla player Arno Kalbus and festival director Andres Mustonen.

Andres Mustonen directs Hortus Musicus Baroque Orchestra a programme focusing on the seasons pairing Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, in a version for cello and orchestra by Marcel Johannes Kits (who plays the solo), with The Seasons, a 12-part cycle by the Ukrainian composer, Leonid Desyatnikov. In 2006 a ballet based on Desyatnikov's The Seasons was premiered in New York by the New York City Ballet. There is a visual element to the concert too as audiovisual artist Iiris-Minda Paemurru will be creating a projection design inspired by the paintings of the artist Navitrolla.

Alongside these concerts are a lively programme of workshops including Indian raga and Kathak dance, craft events, a tour of Viljandi with live music, stage and theatrical workshops as well as archery and shooting!

Full details from the festival website. 

 

Vocal fireworks & extreme emotions: Franco Fagioli & the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles in music written for the castrato Velluti

Franco Fagioli with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles & Stefan Plewniak in Divonne-les-Bains in April 2026 (Photo: Jean-Christophe Cassagnes.)

The Last Castrato: Arias for Velluti - Rossini, Nicolini, Bonfichi, Rode, Zingarelli, Mercadante; Franco Fagioli, Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles, Stefan Plewniak; St Martin in the Fields
Reviewed 13 June 2026

Making its UK debut, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles is joined by countertenor Franco Fagioli for an evening of early 19th century Italian vocal fireworks exploring repertoire originally written for the castrato Velluti

The castrato Giovanni Battista Velluti (1780-1861) is known for what he was rather than what he sang. Velluti is renowned as the last great operatic castrato, for whom Rossini and Meyerbeer wrote roles. Velluti came at a time when opera itself was changing: many of the composers whose work he sang wrote in a style which still looked back, Rossini and his operatic revolutions would ensure that opera changed and indeed left castrati behind. The title of The Last Castrato realistically goes to Alessandro Moreschi and those castrati who survived in the Papal choir and were recorded in early years of the 20th century. But in terms of operatic castrati, Velluti is definitely the last.

Under the title The Last Castrato: arias for Velluti, countertenor Franco Fagioli has been exploring this repertoire for a while with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles and conductor Stefan Plewniak. They issued a disc on the Château de Versailles Spectacles label early last year and have been touring the programme. On Saturday 13 June 2026, Franco Fagioli, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles and Stefan Plewniak presented The Last Castrato: arias for Velluti at St Martin-in-the Fields. Fagioli sang arias from Giuseppe Nicolini's Traiano in Dacia and Carlo Magno, Paolo Bonfichi's Attila, Rossini's Aureliano in Palmira and Mercadante's Andronico, and there was orchestral music by Rossini, Pierre Rode and Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli.

A portal into how we reflect the world around us now: violinist Violetta Suvini on bringing three world premieres to Cheltenham Music Festival

Violetta Suvini (Photo: Marleen Annema)

On 10 July 2026 at Pittville Pump Room in Cheltenham, violinist Violetta Suvini is joined by friends, Hana Mizuta-Spencer (violin), Dominic Stokes (viola) and Nina Kiva (cello) for Violetta Suvini and Friends as part of the Cheltenham Music Festival. The concert features the premieres of works commissioned from Jasmine Morris, Ben Nobuto and Imogen Davey, along with a performance of Britten's String Quartet No. 2. New York-based Jasmine Morris won BBC Young Composer in 2020 and has since written for the Viktoria Mullova Ensemble and Solem Quartet. Ben Nobuto made waves when his Hallelujah Sim, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and BBC Singers, opened the 2024 BBC Proms [see my review of National Youth Choir's Young Composers 4 disc on NMC which features Nobuto's Sol and The nearness of things]. Imogen Davey’s compositions have been premiered as far afield as Seoul, Berlin, Barcelona, Helsinki and Melbourne, often using electronic, acoustic and visual elements in her work.

The Cheltenham project is the brainchild of Violetta, a violinist whose practice covers a remarkably wide range. Violetta met viola player Dominic Stokes whilst they were both at the Guildhall School, and they worked together including playing in Serenity 2.0, Ben Nobuto's work for string quartet, percussion and electronics that won a Royal Philharmonic Society award in 2023, as well as playing Jasmine Morris's SO-ŌN for string quartet, field recordings and found sounds at the Venice Biennale in 2025. Violetta had commissioned a work from Imogen Davey, Naegleria Fowleri for violin and electronics which premiered in 2023 [The name refers to a pathogenic microorganism, commonly referred to as the ‘brain-eating amoeba’, that can cause fatal brain infection!]

There is only a sparse repertoire for violin and viola, so the idea developed to commission new works. These would be able to include electronics because, as Violetta comments, this both reflects the time we are in and speaks to the younger generation. The three commissions in the concert provide a rich showcase for the combination of violin and viola, showing what it can do. When I spoke to Violetta she had recently spoken to all three composers and been reassured that their pieces were on track.

Focus on the flugelhorn: Imogen Whitehead's residency at Ryedale Festival champions an instrument that often sits in the shadows with new concerto by Gabriel Jackson

Imogen Whitehead with flugelhorn

The flugelhorn has its origins in a German type of hunting horn. In early 18th century Germany, a ducal hunt leader known as a Flügelmeister used a Flügelhorn to direct his wing of the hunting party. This developed into a valved bugle in the earlier part of the 19th century. It is similar to the trumpet and cornet, but its wider conical bore means the sound is darker and more mellow. It employs the same fingering system, so its similarity in size means it can be played by trumpet and cornet players, with some adjustment to breath and embouchure. 

 It is a standard member of the brass band and is occasionally found in classical music: there are flugelhorn parts in Stravinsky's Threni, Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 9 and Tippett's Symphony No. 3.

This year's Ryedale Festival is providing a chance to get up close and personal with the flugelhorn.  The Festival, which runs from 10 to 26 July, is presenting some 60 events in 40 venues across North and East Yorkshire. The Festival programme is anchored around five artistic residencies - The Gesualdo Six, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London, Van Baerle Piano Trio, cellist Laura van der Heijden and brass player Imogen Whitehead.

Imogen Whitehead's residency will be focusing on the flugelhorn and her appearances include recitals with organist Rachel Mahon at Ampleforth and with harpist Olivia Jageurs at St Michael’s Church Coxwold, and an appearance with Kirkbymoorside Town Brass Band (where flugelhorns will be in abundance alongside Whitehead's solo appearance) as well as a masterclass with young brass players from across the region.

But the heart of the residency will be the world premiere of a new Flugelhorn Concerto by Gabriel Jackson, co‑commissioned for Imogen Whitehead by the Ryedale Festival and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Charlotte Corderoy conducts Whitehead and the RLPO in the concerto's premiere at St Peter's Church, Norton alongside Weber's Symphony No. 2 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 4.

Imogen Whitehead is championing an instrument that often sits in the shadows and is at the heart of creating new music and a stronger future for it.  She is also taking an instrument most rooted in brass‑band culture and bringing it to the classical mainstream. This is not the first time she has championed the instrument in new music, back in 2023 she commissioned a new solo flugelhorn piece from composer Charlotte Harding. 

She is part of a growing cohort of women pushing into what has long been a very male‑dominated corner of the profession, and interestingly trumpeter Matilda Lloyd will be joining the Gesualdo Six at the Festival for a joint concert.

Full details of the Ryedale Festival from their website. 

Eight Days: Louis Mander & Louisa Petaï's new opera focuses on Mary, Queen of Scots' final days using her own words

Mary, Queen of Scots remains a character who continues to fascinate and inspire composers. Composers as diverse as Schumann and Richard Wagner set her poetry. Donizetti's opera though historically inaccurate continues to hold the operatic stage, and more recent composers inspired by her have included Thea Musgrave. Brett Dean's new opera, Of One Blood which examines the rivalry between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, debuted at the Bavarian State opera last month and will be travelling to Santa Fe Opera, State Opera South Australia, and Garsington.

In September, composer Louis Mander will be debuting his own work inspired by the tragic queen, Eight Days. Written for soprano and chamber ensemble, the opera will be performed by Louisa Petaï who has also written the libretto based on Mary's letters. 

Louis Mander is no stranger to opera having written his first one in 2006. His recent output has included a comic operetta, The Dowager's Oyster (2015/16) and The Waves (2024) based on Virginia Woolf's novel. 

Eight Days debuts at Tête à Tête on 9 September 2026 before travelling to St Mary’s Church, Fotheringhay, the very location where Mary would have spent her last night before her execution at Fotheringhay Castle. The castle was almost totally demolished in the 1630s and little remains. Fotheringhay Church was begun as a collegiate foundation by King Edward III in 1430 though only the nave, aisles and octagonal tower remain of the original building.

On 1st February 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots, after twenty years of captivity, still remains imprisoned in Fotheringhay castle.  Unbeknownst to her, Queen Elizabeth I - her own cousin - has signed her death warrant.  She has only eight days left to live. The opera's libretto draws upon contemporary historical accounts and uses Mary's own words above all as Mary braces herself for death, yet still a queen, deliberately sows the seeds for her own enduring legacy as martyr and icon. 

Further information from Louis Mander's website,  

Familiar yet unfamiliar: with Summa, Cello Octet Amsterdam present Arvo Pärt's music in performances that are simply mesmeric

Summa - Arvo Pärt: Solfeggio, Silouan’s Song, Da Pacem Domine, Psalom, Missa Brevis, Summa, O-Antiphonen, Pari Intervallo; Cello Octet Amsterdam; 7K Records
Reviewed 26 May 2026

Arvo Pärt's music reinvented in his own versions for eight cellos superbly rendered by Cello Octet Amsterdam

The Cello Octet Amsterdam began life in 1989 when there were only two pieces for eight cellos. By 2009 they are eight cellists based in Amsterdam looking to create new music for the ensemble. They have now been performing with the same eight cellists for five years, responsible for more than 90 world premieres. Composers they have worked with include Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina, Theo Loevendie, Nyokabi Kariũki, Sarah Davachi, Michael Gordon, and Kate Moore. After the premiere of his first piece for the Octet, Arvo Pärt said: “The Octet is worth its weight in gold. I discovered this ensemble 10 years too late.”

To celebrate Arvo Pärt's 90th birthday the Octet (Rares Mihailescu, Claire Bleumer, Geneviève Verhage, Esther Torrenga, René van Munster, Sanne van der Horst, Sanne Bijker, Alistair Sung) have released Summa, a disc of Pärt's music on 7K records. The album is the first-ever recording of selected works by Pärt reimagined for eight cellos, specially rearranged by the composer himself over the course of 10 years in close collaboration with the Octet. 

Finding his way home through a single voice: cellist Sebastian Plano on his new album, Solo, his most personal work to date

Sebastian Plano

Grammy-nominated Argentine cellist and composer Sebastian Plano announces the release of his deeply personal new album, Solo, arriving on 26 June.

For more than two decades, Sebastian Plano has built a distinctive musical language that bridges classical tradition, contemporary composition and cinematic atmosphere. Across acclaimed recordings, the Argentine-born, Grammy-nominated cellist and composer has become known for richly layered sound worlds that blend acoustic instruments with electronics, creating music that feels both intimate and expansive. With his forthcoming album Solo, released on 26 June, Plano strips everything back.

His most personal work to date, Solo is the first album of his career composed and recorded entirely for unaccompanied cello. The result is a collection of pieces that reflects a lifetime of movement, memory and transformation, distilled into a single instrumental voice.

Music has always been part of Plano's story. Born in Rosario, Argentina, into a family of musicians - both parents performed in the city's symphony orchestra, while his grandfather was a tango composer and bandoneon player - he began studying the cello at the age of seven and composing by twelve. Alongside his classical training, he developed a fascination with electronic music after discovering artists such as Vangelis, a curiosity that would later become central to his artistic identity. At seventeen, Plano left Argentina alone to pursue studies abroad, earning full scholarships to the United World College of the Adriatic, the Boston Conservatory and the San Francisco Conservatory. The experience of crossing continents, adapting to new cultures and constantly redefining notions of home would leave a lasting imprint on both his life and his music.

Those journeys form the emotional foundation of Solo. Rather than telling a straightforward autobiographical story, the album unfolds as a continuous musical arc, tracing themes of identity, belonging and change through a single uninterrupted cello voice. The pieces flow seamlessly into one another, creating what feels less like a sequence of compositions and more like a personal meditation on movement itself. That vulnerability lies at the heart of Solo. By embracing the limitations and possibilities of a single instrument, Plano has created a work of remarkable focus and honesty - one that explores not only where he has been, but what it means to continually evolve.

Ahead of the album's release on 26 June, we spoke with Sebastian Plano about improvisation, memory, Bach, belonging and the artistic freedom that emerged from stripping everything back to one instrument.

Verdi & the 50th anniversary of the birth of punk: La traviata from St Paul's Opera fuses Victorian morality with punk rebellion

St Paul's Opera in Clapham is back with their summer opera next month. Having delighted us last year with Doniz L'elisir d'amore [see my review], the company will be performing Verdi's La traviata from 2 to 4 July 2026 at St Paul's Church, Clapham.

The director is Edwina Strobl, who is Australian/Austrian, and who was the Young Artist Director at Opera Holland Park last year when she was working on Jonathan Dove's Itch and where she was Assistant Director on this year's opening production, Puccini's La fanciulla del West. 

For La traviata, we are promised a fresh interpretation of the work through a visually striking and theatrically dynamic staging fusing Victorian morality and with punk rebellion. The production highlights the radical nature of Verdi’s celebrated work and takes inspiration from the 50th anniversary of the birth of punk, inviting audiences to look anew at a well-loved opera. (The perspicacious amongst you will recognise the poster to be a riff on an iconic Sex Pistols image).

The music director is Adrian Salinero, the designer is Pin Chen and the choreographer is Agur Arrien. Violetta is sung by Lizzie Ryder (who we last caught as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Hurn Court Opera, see our review) with Christian Joel as Alfredo and Owain Gwynfryn as Germont.  There is also a cover cast, who will be performing the family matinée on Saturday 4 July - Valerija Iljin, Tom Lidgley, Emil Vincenzi.

Full details from the St Paul's Opera website. 

 

La Clemenza di Tito: despite a lack of staging, Christopher Rousset & Les Talens Lyriques light up the stage in Mozart's great final opera at The Grange Festival

Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito - Aphrodite Patoulidou, Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques - The Grange Festival (Photo: Connor Apps)

Mozart: La clemenza di Tito: Jeremy Ovenden, Aphrodite Patoulidou, Maite Beaumont, Anna El-Khashem,  Ambroisine Bré, Adrien Fournaison, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset; The Grange Festival
Reviewed 9 June 2026

A welcome opportunity to hear Mozart's great last opera in vividly dramatic performances that really reached over the footlights along with the sophisticated sounds of Les Talens Lyriques 

Mozart's great final opera, La clemenza di Tito has never had the regular place in the repertoire that it deserves. Coming after the three great Da Ponte operas and Die Zauberflöte the opera can seem something of a step backwards, towards the type of opera Mozart was writing in his teens. Following the premiere of Idomeneo in 1781, Mozart had a wish (unfulfilled) to rework the opera in a more Gluckian cast and something of this survives in the changes he made for the 1786 performance in Vienna with a tenor Idamante. The fascination with reworking traditional opera seria did not go away and whilst La clemenza di Tito seems a world away from Don Giovanni (both premiered in the same theatre in Prague), the libretto makes definitive moves away from Metastasio.

The opera remained popular after Mozart's death and was the first of his operas to reach London, in 1806, but in all probability it was not performed there again until the St Pancras Festival in 1957! Anthony Besch's 1974 production at Covent Garden played an important role in the rediscovery of the opera and this remained in production until 1989. Richard Jones's 2021 production there [see my review] does not seem set to take classic status. The work has been performed by English National Opera and by English Touring Opera but only Glyndebourne seems to keep the faith (their most recent outing was 2017, see my review). Otherwise, it is a festival work. Performed at the Edinburgh Festival last year, this year there are two different outings. Buxton Festival will be presenting two performances in July, and the Grange Festival has invited Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques to perform the work.

Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques were giving two performances at the Grange Festival (we caught the first on 9 June 2026) in association with Mozartfest Würzburg where they perform the work later this week. Rousset had assembled a very international cast. English tenor Jeremy Ovenden was Tito, Greek soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou was Vitellia, Russian-Lebanese soprano Anna El-Khashem was Servilia, Spanish mezzo-soprano Maite Beaumont was Sesto, French mezzo-soprano Ambroisine Bré was Annio and French bass-baritone Adrien Fournaison was Publio, with the Mozartfest Würzburg Choir.

Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito - Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques - The Grange Festival (Photo: Connor Apps)

The orchestra was on stage, which was a real treat, with Rousset also providing continuo piano. The backdrop, however, was a simple black curtain and the sound sometimes felt a little recessed, particularly when it came to the woodwind. The soloists were along the front stage, with scores and music stands. Thankfully these were hardly used and there was a drama and freedom to the presentation. Jeremy Ovenden barely used a score whilst Aphrodite Patoulidou's Vitellia prowled around the stage in a dramatically intense manner.

The Trial of Dhegdheer: a Somali folktale is the inspiration for a new community opera bringing together communities of Butetown & Grangetown in Cardiff

Robert Fokkens in the first community rehearsal of The Trial of Dhegdheer

A new community opera The Trial of Dhegdheer, to be performed in Grangetown in Cardiff on Saturday 13 June takes a Somali folktale as its inspiration. The folktale, about a terrifying cannibalistic ogress with one exceptionally long ear, offers a way of presenting a wide range of perspectives, from the complications of recycling bags to carriages of injustice and features communities of Butetown and Grangetown alongside professionals, with community participants as jurors, witnesses and the Judge.

Contemporary opera company Music Theatre Wales (MTW) and Fio theatre company are coming together for the event which will be directed by Fio artistic director Mathilde Lopéz, returning to opera following Out of Her Mouth, her 2023 piece on Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre with Mahogony Opera and her 2022 production of Carmen at Longborough Festival Opera. The artistic team also includes includes  poet, community activist and actor Ali Goolyad, electronic pop and soul producer/singer songwriter Eadyth, musician and producer Ani Glass and South African contemporary music composer Robert Fokkens. Design is by Gerald Tyler and Dotty Squibb with Gerald Tyler also providing construction and technical facilitation.

Gweneth Ann Rand who also performed in MTW and Fio’s The Jollof House Party Opera, will join the community cast in the central role of Dhegdheer along with local baritone Thomas Coltman as the Prosecutor and the performance will culminate in the traditional Somali singing form of Buraanbur led by Ifraax.

Further information from the TicketSource website.