In case you missed it: May on Planet Hugill - Ukuleles in Dresden, Shakespeare at the Temple, Handel in Westminster

Welcome to May on Planet Hugill, a month which included the thrilling revival of Enescu's opera Oedipe at Covent Garden as well as our trip to the Dresden Music Festival.

Various Venues

The delight of both: we saw Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at Temple complete with Mendelssohn's music, and experienced the intimate charm of Handel's Acis and Galatea at Kings Place. Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra & members of WNO Orchestra performed Side by Side in Elgar's Symphony No. 1 at Blackheath Halls.

Cadogan Hall

There was strength, discipline & delicacy from Alexandra Dariescu, Fabien Gabel and RPO, and we also saw Vox Luminis in Light and Shadow, music at the time of Elizabeth I.

Dresden Music Festival

The festival's Klingende Stadt project made the whole city resound with music, and the Ukulele Orchestra of GB appeared at the Semper Opera House.

London Festival of Baroque Music

I heard Handel's Israel in Egypt at Westminster Abbey, and Rachel Podger and EUBO. Ruth heard Handel's Messiah in its original 1741 version, and the irresistible warmth & charm of Profeti della Quinta in Il Mantovano Hebreo.

From our contributors

Ruth heard Bellini's Adelson and Salvini from Opera Rara, and the Shakespeare 400 and 150 celebrations from Ex Cathedra.

Interviews and features

▪ The art is in putting people together: Douglas Boyd talks about Garsington's season.
▪ A kind of alchemy: I talk to Lionel Meunier of Vox Luminis.
▪ Young American pianist and composer Thomas Nickell.
▪ How to be HIP: from listening to Adelina Patti to an 18th century Scots dance band.

Performing and writing

I took part in the premiere of Matthew T Hall's Cantata at Blackheath Halls, and my article on a walking tour of Kalamaja in Tallinn was published on the Culture Trip.

CD reviews

▪ Decades: A Century of song 1810 to 1820
▪ Deo: music by Jonathan Harvey from St John's College, Cambridge
▪ Beethoven, Dvorak and a constellation: Trio Celeste
▪ Seductive and luminous: Clare Hammond plays Kenneth Hesketh
▪ Dancing in Daylight: Contemporary Piano Trios from Ireland
▪ namesErased: new music by Reiko Füting
▪ A journey down the Rhine with 24 women's voices, 4 horns & harp
▪ Songs to the Moon: the Myrthen Ensemble
▪ A remarkable tribute: Choir of Kings College, London's In Memoriam
▪ Greensleeves: Folk Music of the British Isles

Credits

Our header image this month is Lucy Thatcher and David North in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Middle Temple Hall, © 2016 Celia Bartlett Photography.