Rachel Podger - Kings Place (Photo Monika S Jakubowska/Kings Place) |
Well, what a year it has been, yet there have been some terrific evenings in the theatre and concert hall, and I have to congratulate all the performers and venues for managing to keep the artistic world moving in difficult circumstances, from Wigmore Hall and Kings Place to the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.
Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton gave the first song recital at Wigmore Hall after lockdown, and Elizabeth Llewellyn (accompanied by Simon Lepper) returned to the Wigmore Hall following her sensational debut last year. It was also a good year for Handel, beginning with early, Italian Handel from Ensemble Marysas, continuing with Samson at the London Handel Festival, and two different Messiahs, not to forget Jorge Navarro Colorado and Opera Settecento's amazing exploration of arias written for one of Handel's tenors.
And at the Proms we had Julius Eastman and Joseph Horovitz's Harpsichord Concerto from the Manchester Collective, and Stephen Isserlis, the London Philharmonic and Vladimir Jurowski in rare Proms outings for Walton's Cello Concerto and Hindemith's Mathis der Mahler Symphony. Whilst at Opera Holland Park, we got the chance to hear song recitals alongside the opera season and the London Song Festival' strong Autumn season included a terrific exploration of the relationship between Verlaine and Rimbaud.
The Manchester Collective in rehearsal at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms (Photo c/o Manchester Collective) |
The Christmas season wasn't just Messiah; both Gabrieli Consort and Players in Bach cantatas and Arcangelo in Schütz put a real spring in our steps.
Concerts of the year
- Full of the joy of Christmas: music by Heinrich Schütz and his contemporaries from Arcangelo at Wigmore Hall
- Focused intensity and sheer joyful elan: John Butt and Dunedin Consort perform Handel's Messiah at Wigmore Hall
- A festive feast of Bach for Christmas: Gabrieli Consort & Players at Wigmore Hall
- A Dangerous Obsession: The Relationship of Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud at the London Song Festival
- Intimate and intense: Mahler with just voice and piano, Alice Coote, Stuart Jackson and Julius Drake at Temple Song
- Thrilling virtuosity and engaging personality: Arias for Ballino, Jorge Navarro Colorado's exploration of rare 18th-century repertoire with Opera Settecento at London Handel Festival
- A superb tribute to both Handel and Milton: the expansive original 1743 version of Samson at London Handel Festival
- A sequence of vivid characters: William Walton's A Song for the Lord Mayor's Table alongside Puccini, Verdi and Finzi in a superb recital from Elizabeth Llewellyn and Simon Lepper at Wigmore Hall
- High Energy: an evening of firsts from the Manchester Collective and Mahan Esfahani at the BBC Proms
- Late romanticism to the fore: Vladimir Jurowski, the London Philharmonic Orchestra & Steven Isserlis' exploration of Walton & Hindemith at the BBC Proms
- Janacek's The Diary of One Who Disappeared alongside his Moravian songs and Dvorak's Gypsy Songs from Nicky Spence, Fleur Barron, Dylan Perez and friends at Opera Holland Park
- Talking to us through the music: Rachel Podger in a programme of music for unaccompanied violin by Bach at Kings Place
- Handel the young Italian: Ensemble Marsyas in chamber music and duets from the composer's early years
- Sheer joy: Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton's recital of Schubert songs, Elysium, was the perfect way to celebrate the return of live audiences to song recitals at Wigmore Hall
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