Last month on Planet Hugill

Vanity Fair scene from Pilgrims Progress

at ENO (c) Mike Hoban

Just in case you missed it! November opened with the launch of this year's London Song Festival and the tragic news of Robert Poulton's death. We closed with a guest review of the last night of the festival and I participated in the Courtauld Community Choir.

Guildhall School of Music and Drama presented an enterprising triple bill of operas by Massenet and Martinu, ENO were equally enterprising with their production of Vaughan Williams's Pilgrims Progress and Chelsea Opera Group performed Massenet's Don Quichotte with Robert Lloyd.

Roberto Alagna appeared in L'Elisir d'Amore at Covent Garden. James Conway's production of L'Incoronazione di Poppea debuted at the Royal College of Music.

We covered events at Brighton Early Music Festival, including their spectacular presentation of the Florentine Intermedi. Wimbledon Festival also launched with Dido and Aeneas, and we covered recitals by Christine Brewer and Mark Padmore, plus the Cardinalls Musick. Soprano Dimitra Theodossiu was dramatic at Rosenblatt Recitals, the music of Ignatz Waghalter intrigued at Cadogan Hall, the Russian Virtuosi showed passion and discipline and Merton College Choir brought theirMagnificat Antiphons to Cadogan Hall.

Articles included Handel's last castrato, a look at the controversial premiere of Carmen and the problems with the opera's different editions, the Gabrieli Young Singers' Scheme and the Royal Philharmonic Society launched its 200th anniversary celebrations.

Book and CD reviews included Coro Allegro's In Paradisum, A Natural History of the Piano, The Last Musician of Ur plus Choin and Liszt from Viktor Bijelovic.