Handel through Mozart’s eyes: Handel Hendrix House offers us a chance to see Mozart studying Handel's music

Mozart's fugue based on Handel (Photo: Handel Hendrix House)

Mozart visited London in 1764-5 as part of a long European tour with his family. At just eight years old, Mozart performed Handel’s music in the presence of royalty, participated in concerts that included Handel’s Acis and Galatea, and experienced live performances of many more works including Alexander’s Feast. 

Mozart went on to study and make new arrangements of Handel’s fugues, dramatic oratorios and odes, finding inspiration in Handel’s mastery of the rules of counterpoint and the expressive power of his music. Mozart was reported to say that ‘Handel understands effect better than any of us…when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.’  

Over 20 years after that London visit Mozart would produce modern versions of Handel's works for performances in Vienna including Acis and Galethea (1788), the Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1790), Alexander's Feast (1790) and Messiah (1789). 

Age 26 in 1782, Mozart would transcribe string quartet the fugue from Handel’s Suite in F for harpsichord (written 60 years earlier). The manuscript for this, beautifully written in Mozart's hand,  is evidence of Mozart’s life-long fascination with Handel’s music and the Baroque master’s influence on Mozart’s own music. 

This manuscript forms the centrepiece of the exhibition, Handel through Mozart’s eyes at Handel Hendrix House from 25 February top 13 September 2026. The exhibition also includes an early printed score of Messiah re-orchestrated by Mozart and 18th-century concert tickets and engravings showing key locations Hanover Square and Vauxhall Gardens where the young Mozart wowed audiences with his keyboard and violin playing in between performances of music by Handel during the child prodigy’s visit to London.

Handel's dining room at Handel Hendrix House (Photo: Christopher Ison)

Full details from the Handel Hendrix House website. 

 

Britain's longest-established string quartet? Sacconi Quartet celebrates 25 years with the line-up unchanged

The Sacconi Quartet - Ben Hancox, Hannah Dawson, Robin Ashwell, Cara Berridge (Photo: Clive Barda)

The Sacconi Quartet is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the line-up unchanged since Ben Hancox, Hannah Dawson, Robin Ashwell and Cara Berridge formed the quartet at the Royal College of Music in 2001, making them seemingly Britain's longest-established string quartet. The quartet will kick off their 25th birthday celebrations with a gala concert at the Wigmore Hall on Friday 20 February 2026.

The Wigmore Hall programme includes the world premiere of Freya Waley-Cohen’s Dances, Songs & Hymns for Friendship, commissioned for the occasion - a testament to "25 years of enduring friendship, all the different twists and turns of life they have seen each other through”. And Waley-Cohen's piece will feature in Sacconi programmes throughout the year. At Wigmore Hall the quartet will also be playing Haydn's String Quartet in C Op. 33 No. 3 'The Bird' and Beethoven's String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132.

The quartet has given over 30 world premiere performances and made premiere recordings of works by Roxanna Panufnik, Jonathan Dove, Graham Fitkin and John McCabe. The quartet's performance film of Dove’s first quartet Out of Time’ was released on Amazon Prime in 2021 and is now available to all, via the quartet’s YouTube channel.

Three members of the quartet perform on instruments made by the great Italian violin maker Simone Sacconi (1895-1973), who studied fellow luthier Antonio Stradivari extensively during his lifetime. The blend of these instruments, combined with many years of intimate work and understanding, have led to the quartet’s unique sound. 

The Sacconi Quartet is Quartet in Association at the Royal College of Music and Quartet in Residence for the town of Folkestone. The Sacconi Chamber Music Festival in Folkestone, which runs from 14 to 17 May 2026, is now in its 19th year and firmly established among the UK’s major chamber music festivals.

See Wigmore Hall website for details of the birthday concert. 

Shake Up & Smell the Rain featuring children from Belham Primary school on Alex Paxton's new album, Candyfolk Space Drum

Alex Paxton's fifth studio album, Candyfolk Space Drum is released on 3 April 2026 on Jonah Records. As exuberant as ever, Paxton's music on the album features jazz musicians, school children, players from the London Sinfonietta and Riot Ensemble, as well as soloists including Paxton himself on trombone, Jennifer Walshe (voice) and Zubin Kanga (piano).

Candyfolk Space Drum asserts that art should be essential and embedded within society and that a composer can write on an international level while remaining part of the local community in which they live. Alongside virtuosic ensemble writing, the album foregrounds music with school children and jazz musicians who each bring layers of magic from their own performance practice. 

A formative image comes from Paxton’s past life as a primary school classroom music teacher in London, teaching children in groups of 30+, mainly singing in a joyful, ragged unison — full of character, with no attempt to smooth eccentricity into choral cohesion. That spirit runs throughout the album: individuality is preserved, collective energy is amplified and music becomes social and alive. 

As a taster of this approach, the track Shake Up & Smell the Rain has been released featuring an animation by Oz Animation (see video) with performers including the Children’s Chorus of Belham Primary school conducted by Aga Serugo-Lugo, musicians from the London Sinfonietta and Paxton on trombone.

Further information about the album from BandCamp.

Epic Theatre? ENO's incoming music director, André de Ridder at the helm for Brecht & Weill's tricky piece of operatic music theatre, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Brecht & Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - English National Opera (Photo: Tristram Kenton)

Brecht & Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny; Rosie Aldridge, Kenneth Kellogg, Mark Le Brocq, Simon O'Neill, Danielle de Niese, director: Jamie Manton, conductor: André de Ridder; English National Opera at the London Coliseum
Reviewed 16 February 2026

Brecht and Weill's fascinating but problematic work in an evening that combined high-energy performance and Brechtian Epic Theatre but was let down by the challenge of performing it in the London Coliseum 

Brecht and Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny might be an iconic work, but it remains tricky to perform and bring off in the theatre. English National Opera last performed it in the 1990s in a production directed by Declan Donnellan [see the review in The Independent], whilst Covent Garden essayed the work in 2015 [see my review]. Now, ENO has chosen the work as a showcase for the talents of conductor André de Ridder, the company's incoming music director.

With just three performances at the London Coliseum, opening on 16 February 2026, this was very much blink-and-you'll-miss-it theatre, but Jamie Manton's stripped back production, designed by Milla Clarke, was clearly intended to be high-energy, leaning into the idea of Brechtian theatre.

Rosie Aldridge was Begbick with Kenneth Kellogg as Trinity Moses, Mark Le Brocq as Fatty the Bookkeeper, Simon O'Neill as Jimmy Macintyre, Alex Otterburn as Bank-Account Billy, Elgan Llŷr Thomas as Jack O'Brien, David Shipley as Alaska Wolf Joe, Danielle de Niese as Jenny Smith, and Zwakele Tshabalala as Toby Higgins. Lighting was by D.M.Wood, and choreography by Lizzi Gee. Sound design was by Jake Moore.

Brecht & Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - Adam Taylor (dancer) - English National Opera (Photo: Tristram Kenton)

Sir Alexander Gibson: Scottish Opera, Royal Scottish National Orchestra & Royal Conservatoire of Scotland come together to celebrate his centenary

Sir Alexander Gibson

Wednesday 11 February 2026 marked 100 years since the birth of Sir Alexander Gibson (1926-1995). 

Gibson became the first Scot and longest-serving principal conductor and music director of the Scottish National Orchestra (now the Royal Scottish National Orchestra) in 1959 (a post he held until 1984). A few years into this role, in 1962, he co-founded Scottish Opera. 

A former student of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (then the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama), the Alexander Gibson Opera School in Glasgow was established in his memory, along with a fellowship for choral conductors. 

After the War interrupted his studies in Glasgow he served with the Royal Signals Band until 1948 when he took up a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, going on to studied at the Mozarteum, Salzburg under Igor Markevitch, and under Paul Van Kempen at the Accademia Chigiana, Siena.

After a spell as Assistant Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra he became music director of Sadler's Wells Opera, at 31, the company’s youngest. He conducted a total of 26 operas at Sadler’s Wells and made his Covent Garden debut in 1957 with Tosca. In 1959 he returned to Glasgow to take up the post with the Scottish National Orchestra (SNO).

The new Scottish Opera gave its first season in 1962 at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow, with productions of Madama Butterfly and Pelléas and Mélisande with the SNO performing in the pit. During Gibson's tenure he conducted four world premieres mounted by Scottish Opera as well as the first production of Les Troyens to perform both halves of the opera in a single night. His final production with the company was Tosca in 1993

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland are coming together on 25 February 2026 to celebrate Sir Alexander Gibson at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh with an event showcasing his achievements and highlighting the work of the companies in continuing to bring world-class opera and music to a diverse range of audiences in communities the length and breadth of Scotland. 

The world premiere of Scottish Opera's new production of Dai Fujikura’s and Harry Ross’ The Great Wave on Thursday 12 February, at Theatre Royal Glasgow was dedicated to Gibson to mark his birthday.

Further information from the Scottish Opera website.

Violinist (and media sensation) Esther Abrami celebrates International Women's Day at Institut français

Esther Abrami

The French violinist Esther Abrami, who studied at Chetham's School of Music, the Royal College of Music and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, is described as something of a 'media sensation': she has over 400,000 followers on Instagram alone. Her 2025 album, Women on the Sony Classical label and made with performers including the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra includes music by women composers ranging from film composers Anne Dudley and Rachel Portman to Ethel Smyth and Pauline Viardot, plus the premiere recording of Irish composer Ina Boyle’s Violin Concerto. All this sounds wonderfully admirable.

However, the review of Women in The Strad is less convinced. Reviewer Charlotte Gardner describes the album as "A triumph of slickness over substance from a social media star", and she goes on to comment, "It’s all very sincerely but also slickly performed and presented. It also all sounds very produced, and significantly more single-flavoured in all regards than such a span of periods, genres and instrumental constellations had the potential to be."

Now there is a chance to hear for yourself. On 5 March 2025, Esther Abrami is giving a recital for International Women's Day at the Institut français in South Kensington on 5 March 2026. No word as to what she is performing, we can hope music by women composers from the album. 

Further details from the Institut français website.

 

A lightness of touch yet shot through with seriousness: a new Marriage of Figaro at Opera North with an engaging sense of ensemble

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, Act 4 - Gabriella Reyes, James Newby - Opera North, 2026 (Photo: Tristram Kenton)

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro; Liam James Karai, Hera Hyesang Park, James Newby, Gabriella Reyes, Frances Gregory, director: Louise Muller, conductor: Valentina Peleggi; Opera North at Leeds Grand Theatre
Reviewed 14 February 2026

An updating which balanced act of appealing to old stagers like myself whilst being approachable for those new to the opera, with nary a hint of dumbing down thanks to an ensemble production with the whole cast seeming to enjoy telling us this story

Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro is not just one of the world's greatest operas, it is one of those bread and butter works that companies need in their repertoire. And for a touring company like Opera North, they need a production that is accessible to those who have never seen the opera before whilst at the same time doing the work full justice.

Director Louise Muller's new production for Opera North manages to do just that. Designed by Madeleine Boyd, the staging sets the opera in contemporary England and does so rather imaginatively. The current tour has 14 performances with some double casting and largely younger singers so that casting was very much age appropriate.

On Saturday 14 February at Leeds Grand Theatre we caught Valentina Peleggi conducting, with Liam James Karai as Figaro, James Newby as the Count, Gabriella Reyes as the Countess, Hera Hyesang Park as Susanna, Frances Gregory as Cherubino, Charlotte Bowden as Barbarina, Jonathan Lemalu as Bartolo, and Katherine Broderick as Marcellina. 

The setting was an English country house. The type of venue familiar to most of the audience, yet moving an opera like The Marriage of Figaro into the present is a challenge: the class hierarchies need to remain believable and with this particular opera the droit de seigneur remains an issue.

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, Act 4 - Liam James Karai, Hera Hyesang Park - Opera North, 2026 (Photo: Tristram Kenton)

Muller and Boyd managed the transition admirably, with a setting in a crumbling country pile, complete with buckets for water drips and a guided tour. In an article in the programme booklet, Muller had some interesting things to say about the opera, and it is a pleasure to report that these ideas transferred into a coherent and engaging production.

The power of the ordinary: Phyllida Lloyd's wonderful, stripped-back version of Britten's Peter Grimes revived at Opera North with a fully rounded performance from John Findon as Grimes

Britten: Peter Grimes, Act One, Scene One - Opera North, 2026 (Photo: James Glossop)

Britten: Peter Grimes; John Findon, Philippa Boyle, Simon Bailey, Johannes Moore, Hilary Summers, Stuart Jackson, Nazan Fikret, Ava Dodd, Claire Pascoe, Daniel Norman, Blaise Malaba, director: Phyllida Lloyd/Karolina Sofulak/Tim Claydon, conductor: Garry Walker; Opera North at Leeds Grand Theatre
Reviewed 13 February 2026

Phyllida Lloyd's powerful, stripped-back production revived with a strong ensemble cast and the company in terrific form, centred on terrific performances from John Findon and Philippa Boyle as Grimes and Ellen Orford. 

Phyllida Lloyd's production of Britten's Peter Grimes debuted at Opera North in 2006 and though it was last seen back in around 2013 it has remained one of the productions members of the company most talked about reviving. Now it is back in the care of revival directors Karolina Sofulak [who directed Puccini's Manon Lescaut at Opera Holland Park in 2019, see my review] and Tim Claydon, who is also the movement director. We caught the opening night on Friday 13 February 2026 at the Leeds Grand Theatre conducted by Garry Walker, the company's music director. Designs were by Anthony Ward with lighting by Paule Constable/Ben Jacobs.

Peter Grimes was played by John Findon with Philippa Boyle as Ellen Orford [who we last saw as Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre with London Opera Company in 2023, see my review]. Simon Bailey [seen recently in Rossini's La Cenerentola at ENO, see my review, and a notable Wotan in Dresden Music Festival's historically informed Die Walküre, see my review]. Hilary Summers was Auntie, Nazan Fikret and Ava Dodd were the Nieces, Stuart Jackson was Bob Boles, James Creswell was Swallow, Claire Pascoe was Mrs Sedley, Daniel Norman was Rev Adams, Johannes Moore was Ned Keene and Blaise Malaba was Hobson.

Seeing Lloyd's production for the first time (I did not catch the previous revival) it was fascinating to see how Lloyd caught many of the ideas and themes which have cropped up in more recent productions of the opera. This was a very stripped-back staging with a focus on the performers.

Britten: Peter Grimes - John Findon, Philippa Boyle - Opera North, 2026 (Photo: James Glossop)

Sky with the Four Suns: we get up close and personal with Manchester Collective in the Crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields

Sky with the Four Suns: Pärt, Purcell, Britten, Mica Levi, Jasmine Morris, John Luther Adams; Manchester Collective; Crypt up-close, St Martin-in-the-Fields
Reviewed 12 February 2026

Moving from Purcell to a new commission, the Manchester Collective's programme brought out the variety and intensity of writing for just four instruments, centred on Jasmine Morris imaginative new piece and John Luther Adams in spiritual mode. 

Manchester Collective's latest tour, Sky with the Four Suns completed with a Crypt up-close evening at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on Thursday 12 February 2026, putting the ensemble in close proximity to a near capacity audience, both seated and promenade, in the crypt space normally reserved for the café.

The ensemble featured a string quartet, Rakhi Singh, Donald Grant, Ruth Gibson, Alice Neary, in a programme that began with Arvo Pärt's Summa and ended with John Luther Adams' Canticles of the Sky, the first movement of which gave the programme its name. In between came music by Purcell, Britten, Mica Levi and a new commission from Jasmine Morris.

Tosca in Oxford: Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra launches new opera company with Sir Bryn Terfel as artistic director

Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra (OPO), artistic director Marios Papadopoulos, has done occasional concert performances of opera, but this September they begin a significant new operatic project. 

In what might be seen as a brave move in an ever shrinking operatic climate, this week, Papadopoulos and OPO announced the formation of Oxford International Opera, a new opera company aimed at drawing on operatic talent from home and abroad.

The company was launched at an event this week with introductions from conductor Marios Papadopoulos, who founded OPO, Sir Bryn Terfel who plays Scarpia in Tosca and who is artistic director of the opera company, and P Burton-Morgan who directs the production of Tosca.

Papadopoulos explained that he had been wanting to put the orchestra in the pit for a long time, and he felt that it was important for an orchestra to have its own voice. Plans for the opera company include concert performances as well as stagings, and Terfel is keen to include lieder in the plans too. The company's principal donor is the Laidlaw Opera Trust, whose newest Trustee is baritone Julien Van Mellaerts.

Terfel commented that had has sung in Oxford on tour with Welsh National Opera but now the company rarely, if ever visits the city whilst Glyndebourne has stopped touring entirely. With OPO he has performed the title role in Mendelssohn's Elijah as well as singing Wotan in Act Three of Wagner's Die Walkure. His appearance as Scarpia in Tosca later this year will be his final staged Tosca.

The first project is a staging of Puccini's Tosca at the New Theatre in Oxford on 24 and 26 September 2026, and to emphasise that this is not a one-off venture, the company has already announced its second production will be Beethoven's Fidelio in November 2027.

In addition to Terfel, the Tosca cast features Carmen Giannattasio in the title role, Saimir Pirgu as Cavaradossi, Fabio Previati as the Sacristan, Colin Judson as Spoleta and two young artists, Jamie Woolard as Angelotti and Steffan Lloyd Owen as Sciarrone. The production will be designed by Anthony Lamble.

Further details from OPO's website.

Miracles & Mysteries: the 2026 Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival

This year's Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival takes Miracles & Mysteries as its theme. For one captivating weekend, 22 to 24 May 2026, Beverley's visitors and residents will be able to enjoy concerts, experience talks by experts and take part in workshops. Miracles & Mysteries intertwines the story of St John of Beverley, one of the most powerful miracle-workers in England in medieval times, with music from a selection of visiting ensembles.

The festival opens with French instrumental ensemble Près de votre oreille directed by gamba specialist Robin Pharo in Lighten Mine Eies, featuring music by William Lawes who enjoyed a brief but dazzling career as a singer and lutenist to Charles I. The concert is based around music from the ensemble's 2025 album [see my review]. Their appearance is part of a European tour supported by the Centre national de la musique with the support of Institut Français du Royaume-Uni. 

Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars highlight the festival theme of miracles and mysteries through music inspired by the stories of the life of Christ, beginning with a depiction of Christ’s birth as envisaged by two of the Renaissance’s most renowned composers, Gabrieli and Victoria. The Telling return to the East Riding Theatre with Purcell: The Musical, a drama by Claire Norburn based on the life of Purcell, featuring assorted instrumental and vocal compositions by him, from bawdy theatre ballads and joyful celebrations of love to slow airs and numbers from his semi-operas.

The festival is especially delighted to welcome a host of emerging young talent, with three NCEM Platform Artists. Pseudonym perform 18th-century French music in a sophisticated intermingling of Italian virtuosity and Polish folk rhythms, with works by Couperin, Rameau and Telemann in their programme, Discret et distrait. Intesa duo (viols and voice) celebrate the union between Armenian and Italian traditions in Voices of San Lazzaro. Medieval ensemble Rune presents Lost in Contemplation, with four remarkable medieval miracle stories paired with music from across Europe. 

Still focusing on young artists, the final visitors to the festival are the Bellot Ensemble, newly appointed New Generation Baroque Ensemble. Their programme, From the Sound of Battle to the Silence of Peace presents a vivid journey from the clamour of conflict to the quiet miracle of peace, with music by Lawes, Schmelzer, Biber and Falconieri.

Full details from the festival website. 

Frederick Waxman & Figure are Side by Side again, with Baroque music alongside the new including a commission from Isabella Gellis

Frederick Waxman and Figure

Frederick Waxman and his ensemble Figure are back at Smith Square Hall on 9 April 2026 with another of their Side by Side events presenting Baroque and contemporary music for strings. There will be Baroque masterpieces including the fifth of Handel's Concerto Grossos Op. 6, his great set of 12 that took Corelli's Opus 6 as its model. Alongside this there will be Heinrich Biber's Battalia, his remarkable battle depiction that is full of unconventional (for the time) techniques, plus music by Muffat and Wassenaer.

Alongside these are contemporary pieces, both new and classics. In the latter category music comes Caroline Shaw's Entr'acte (written in 2011 and revised in 2014) inspired by a Haydn string quartet and Oliver Leith's Honey Siren, written for 12 Ensemble in 2019 and inspired by the sound of sirens (as the composer puts it "I was thinking about sirens; the wailing kind, not the bird women singing on rocks"). Alongside these are two new pieces. Joanna Ward's Sweet Romance was commissioned by Figure in 2025, and a specially commissioned world premiere by Jacob Druckman Prize winner Isabella Gellis. [back in 2024, I chatted to Isabella Gellis about her new opera, The Devil's Den: see my interview]

Full details from the Smith Square website 

Deidamia, Messiah, 20 years of the festival orchestra: International Handel Festival Göttingen 2026

George Petrou's producttion of Handel's Deidamia at Wexford Festival Opera in 2025 with Nicolò Balducci  (Photo: Pádraig Grant)

The International Handel Festival Göttingen returns for 2026 with 96 events across 12 days, from 14 to 25 May 2026, involving around 550 artists. The headline event is a staging of Handel's final opera, Deidamia in a co-production with Wexford Festival Opera directed and conducted by Göttingen's artistic director George Petrou. The production debuted at Wexford last year, see my review, and Bruno de Sá, Sophie Junker, and Nicolò Balducci will be returning to their roles in Göttingen.

The festival opens with a concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of the festival orchestra, and George Petrou conducts them in a programme of excerpts from Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, Bach's Suite No. 3 in D major and Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. The oratorio this year is Handel's Messiah, conducted by George Petrou with the NDR Vokalensemble and soloists Ana Maria Labin [whom we last heard in Rossini with Jakob Lehmann and Orchestra Révolutionnaire et Romantique, see my review], Lena Sutor-Wernich, Ru Charlesworth and Drew Santini. No word, as yet, of which version of Messiah is being performed.

Visitors to the festival include soprano Julia Lezhneva with lutenist Luca Pianca, recorder virtuoso Dorothee Oberlinger with her Ensemble 1700 and soprano Bruno de Sá, recorder player Erik Bosgraaf and the ensemble filoBarocco exploring the influence of Polish folk music on Telemann, former Artistic Director of the Festival, harpsichordist Laurence Cummings with flautist Rachel Brown, and Shunske Sato and Shuann Chai present a recreation of an historic concert from 1885.

There are also concerts across the region, in Hann. Münden, Friedland, Einbeck, Landolfshausen, Osterode and Duderstadt with music from the era of the Thirty Years’ War, early Baroque vocal music for Pentecost Monday, arias from Handel's operas, a musical dialogue between Handel and Bach, and the prizewinners of the göttingen handel competition.

Moving into the modern era, Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale will be performed alongside a cantata by Matthias Weckmann with video projections by Folkert Uhde. Matthias Weckmann was an organist in 17th-century Hamburg and his cantata, Wie liegt die Stadt so wüste (How Desolate Lies the City), was written in 1663 in response to a devastating plague.  

Full details from the festival website. 

 

Alice's Adventures Underground, Puccini's Golden Girls & masterclass with Louise Alder: Opera Holland Park's Opera in Song returns

Julien Van Mellaerts at Opera in Song in 2022

Opera in Song, baritone Julien Van Mellaerts and pianist Dylan Perez' song recital series at Opera Holland Park, returns for 2026 with three recitals and a masterclass from 22 to 26 June 2026. Tenor Robert Murray and soprano Madeline Boreham join Perez to open the series with a musical reimagining of Lewis Carroll's seminal novel, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, exploring the nonsensical prose of the novel as well as influences in Carroll’s life and creativity including works by Elgar, Walton and their contemporaries. 

Soprano Louise Alder will be giving a public masterclass with the OHP Young Artists, and then in the evening, she, Perez and the OHP Young Artists will perform works by Mozart, Haydn and Mendelssohn. The final event celebrates OHP's production of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West with soprano Olivia Boen joining Van Mellaerts and Perez to perform works by Copland, Previn and Bernstein. Perez and Van Mellaerts will also be celebrating the release of their disc, Dialogues which comes out on Delphian Records in June.

Full details from the Opera Holland Park website. 

Fantastical & surreal: Thaddeus Strassberger's vision of Berlioz' Benvenuto Cellini in Brussels anchored by a heroic performance from tenor John Osborn

Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini - Final scene - La Monnaie/De Munt (Photo: Simon Van Rompay)

Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini; John Osborn, Ruth Iniesta, Florence Losseau, Tijl Faveyts, Jean-Sebastian Bou, Ante Jerkunica, director: Thaddeus Strassberger, conductor Alain Altinoglu; La Monnaie/De Munt, Brussels
Reviewed 8 Feburary 2026

A fine cast brings life to Thaddeus Strasberger's fantastical and surreal vision of Berlioz' first opera, in its Paris version, balancing the light-hearted with the more thoughtful act of creation with a heroic performance from tenor John Osborn.

In both of his large-scale operas, Benvenuto Cellini and Les Troyens, Berlioz challenged the form of French grand opera, both musically and dramatically. It was a form aligned to the tastes middle class audience of Restoration Paris and to the formal structures of the Paris Opera company.

Both Fromental Halévy, with La Juive in 1835, and Meyerbeer, with Les Huguenots in 1836 and Le prophète in 1849, challenged the socio-political boundaries of the time, exploring historical subjects that put contemporary society under the microscope. Yet neither composer made comparable musical challenges in their operas.

By contrast, Berlioz wrote for himself, for posterity, with little thought to making the work suitable for the Paris Opera. Benvenuto Cellini was premiered at the Paris Opera in 1838 and it failed. It would not be performed again until Franz Liszt revived Berlioz' substantially revised version in Weimar in 1851. 

La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels is known for its explorations of French grand opera so the fact that the company had not so far performed Benvenuto Cellini was a surprise. This lack has been rectified with a new production by Thaddeus Strassberger, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, that opened on 23 January 2026. We caught the fifth performance on 8 February. The production was designed and directed by Strassberger with costumes by Giuseppe Palella, lighting by Driscoll Otto, video by Greg Emetaz and dramagurgy by Sebastien Herbecq.

Cellini was played by American tenor John Osborn, one of the go-to singers for the role at the moment. Teresa was Spanish soprano Ruth Iniesta with Florence Losseau as Ascanio, Tijl Faveyts as Balducci, Jean-Sebastian Bou as Ferramosca and Ante Jerkunica as the Pope.

Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini - Cellini (John Osborn) & the 'Muses' - La Monnaie/De Munt (Photo: Simon Van Rompay)

Strassberger's fantastic take on the opera inhabited a fantasy world that took elements of late 19th and early 20th century Italian imperial reimaginings of the Roman Empire and fused them via a very 21st century imagination alongside suggestions of 1970s Italian cinema and the work of artists Pierre et Gilles.

Hyperion Records celebrates The Romantic Piano Concerto with two 50 CD boxed sets

In 1990, a meeting between Hyperion Records and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra discussed recording plans. The results were three discs with Jerzy Maksymiuk conducting, Piers Lane in piano concertos by Moskowski and Paderewski, Nikolai Demidenko in piano concertos by Medtner, and Stephen Coombs and Ian Munro in Mendelssohn's concertos for two pianos. Hyperion's The Romantic Piano was born. The project’s modest initial aim had been only to restore to the public a few glories of the Romantic concerto repertoire. By its close it covered 235 works, 185 of them piano concertos. By 2023, volume 87 featured pianist Simon Callaghan, in his fourth disc for the project, in concertos by Reinecke and Sauer with Sinfonieorchester St Gallen, conductor Modestas Pitrėnas.

Now Hyperion Records is planning to issue two 50CD boxed sets to bring together the discs from the series. The first release, The Romantic Piano Concerto 1991–2007 Edition, lands on 10 April 2026, with a second set following on 16 October 2026. 

The project brought about a renewal of the repertoire which has helped works to return to global concert programmes after long absences and for the narrowed canon of concerto works to be widened, enabling the public to appreciate, for example, all five of the Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos [recorded by Stephen Hough with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conductor Sakari Oramo along with four other concertante works on volume 27] rather than just the 2nd and occasionally the 5th. Or for Busoni’s vast Piano Concerto [recorded by Marc-André Hamelin with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conductor Mark Elder on volume 22] to be successfully programmed at the London Proms.

Bearing this out, the pianist Piers Lane, whose Moszkowski and Paderewski Piano Concerti formed the very first album in the series and who made seven discs, recalls that he has since regularly played the Moszkowski in concert. He comments: "This epic series of recordings is a glorious testament to Hyperion’s curatorial and archaeological approach to less-known repertoire, and also to Mike Spring’s boundless enthusiasm, instinct, knowledge and curiosity about all things piano."

The 1991–2007 Edition brings together Volumes 1 to 43 of the series, alongside a handful of bonus concerto recordings from the same period. Artists featured include Sir Stephen Hough, Marc-André Hamelin, Piers Lane, Steven Osborne, Howard Shelley and Martin Roscoe, performing with orchestras including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Each boxed set is presented as a 50 CD original-jackets collection with a newly compiled booklet. Alongside introductory texts by Stephen Hough and Piers Lane, new essays by producer Andrew Keener and series founder Mike Spring reflect on the project’s origins, its practical challenges, and the painstaking research involved in manually locating and preparing rare orchestral materials.

One of the series’ champions, Sir Stephen Hough [who recorded four volumes including not only the Saint-Saëns volume, but complete Tchaikovsky concertos, and works by Sauer, Schwarenka, Mendelssohn], reflects on the symbiotic expansion in the size and power of the instrument and the music composed for it in the Romantic era: "Hyperion’s celebrated series of recordings highlighted this phenomenon with enormous enthusiasm and zest over the past decades, with scores of scores unearthed, revealing some astonishing yet unknown works. As they are gathered together in a box it gives us another opportunity to marvel at the sheer variety and fecundity of the form."

The Romantic Piano Concerto 1991–2007 Edition - Hyperion Records, see website for further details.

The vision of a healthier, higher-achieving future: In Harmony Liverpool Philharmonic recognised by Association of British Orchestras with their Impact Award

In Harmony Liverpool 13 Birthday Concert, 2022 (Photo: Mark McNulty)

Launched in February 2009, In Harmony Liverpool Philharmonic uses orchestral music making to improve the life chances of children by increasing confidence, wellbeing, skills and resilience, enhanced by opportunities to travel, learn, perform and collaborate with professional musicians, international artists and other young people. In Harmony Liverpool Philharmonic’s vision is a healthier, higher-achieving future for North Liverpool.  The programme enables over 1,800 children and young people aged 0–18 to learn music every week, free of charge. 

This week, the Liverpool Philharmonic's work with the programme was recognised when they were awarded the Impact Award for Learning and Development by the Association of British Orchestras for the In Harmony Liverpool Philharmonic programme.    

The programme reaches communities experiencing socio-economic disadvantage and works closely with schools and local partners to provide safe spaces where young people can make music and develop essential life skills, equipping them for broader educational and social outcomes.

This year, Liverpool Philharmonic is expanding its 11–18s programme, with new Youth Hubs opening across the city, including Walton, Kensington, Central Liverpool and Bootle. Designed in consultation with young people, In Harmony Youth Hubs support those for whom formal education can be challenging. They provide safe, welcoming spaces to make music, spend time with friends and access high-quality musical, creative and technical opportunities — all completely free of charge. 

Further details from the In Harmony Liverpool Philharmonic website.

Ethel Smyth's String Trio on Solaire records: Trio d'Iroise draw our focus onto this neglected piece

Ethel Smyth: String Trio in D Major, Op. 6; Trio d'Iroise; Solaire Records
Reviewed 2 February 2026

Smyth's early and relatively unknown string trio is the focus for the engaging yet sophisticated EP where the players' style and sophistication draw you in

For the second of Solaire records new series of EPs they turn to relatively unusual 19th century repertoire as Trio d'Iroise (Sophie Pantzier, Violin, François Lefèvre, Viola, Johann Caspar Wedell, Cello) perform Ethel Smyth's String Trio.

The German-French Trio d'Iroise was founded by Sophie Pantzier, Francois Lefèvre and Johann Caspar Wedell in the summer of 2017 at the Rencontres musicales d'Iroise chamber music festival in Brittany. Sophie Pantzier and François Lefèvre are members of the NDR Radiophilharmonie, Caspar Wedell is solo cellist of the ensemble reflektor. Previously on Solaire, the trio joined forces with the Syriab Trio for a fascinating synthesis of Bach and Arab music in Goldberg [see my review].

The trio was composed in 1884 when Smyth was 26, but not performed until 2008! Smyth would not write her first opera, Fantasio, until 1892-94 (premiered 1898) and a lot of her early music focuses on chamber music and song. Whilst her period studying at the Leipzig Conservatoire left her disillusioned she remained attached to Leipzig and her private studies with Heinrich von Herzogenberg would bring her contact with Clara Schumann and Brahms. Von Herzogenberg's wife Elizabeth von Stockhausen, who would become a friend of Smyth's, was a pupil of Brahms and the composer corresponded extensively with the couple. Elizabeth von Stockhausen introduced Smyth to her sister, Julia and Julia's husband, Henry Bennet Brewster (HB). He was the philosopher and poet who became a friend, mentor and perhaps lover to Smyth and would be involved in creating her operas. 

A Child's Dream: pianist Alexandra Dariescu's 10th album, on Signum Classics, launched at the Romanian Cultural Institute

A nine-year-old girl goes on stage to make her concerto debut in Mozart's Rondo for piano and orchestra in D Major, K. 382 but as she steps onto the stage she trips and sends things flying. Rather than crying and giving up, she smiled and carried on. 

That little girl was pianist Alexandra Dariescu and now, 30 years, later, her latest disc (her tenth album), A Child's Dream on Signum Classics, celebrates this by opening with Mozart's Rondo, written when he was just 17, performed with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. The disc mixes pieces that Dariescu has played all her performing life alongside new works and discoveries. 

Last night (3/2/2026) A Child's Dream was launched at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London with a short recital from Dariescu preceded by a discussion between her and Simon Webb, Head of Orchestras and Choirs at the BBC, and finishing with celebratory drinks and cake! 

Dariescu talked about being blessed not only with a supportive family but also by being adopted by the UK. She explained that at the age of 17 she won a competition which took her to study at a school in the middle of Yorkshire. There the careers master encouraged her to take an audition at the Royal Northern College of Music. There result was a scholarship at the RNCM, and she followed this by studying at the Guildhall School, where she returned more recently for their creative entrepreneurship course.

She wanted the disc to not only reflect the pieces that she performed during her childhood and throughout her performing life, but also to reflect the diversity of the society we live in, so the mix includes female composers, contemporary composers and composers of colour. There is a new piece by the American composer James Lee III whom Dariescu met and bonded with whilst performing in Detroit and the result was a new concerto, Shades of Unbroken Dreams, commissioned by the Detroit Symphony and the BBC Philharmonic. After this, Lee wrote her a short piano solo, Humble Birth which is on the disc.

More unusual repertoire on the disc came about partly because during Lockdown, with no concerts, Dariescu set herself the task of finding new and rare repertoire with the emphasis on neglected women composers.  Emmy Schäfer Klein is a composer about whom so little is known. She published her Christmas Album in 1882 and Dariescu plays A Child's Dream from this on the album

The Mozart Rondo was recorded with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, performing without a conductor which Dariescu described as requiring a different type of listening. After the performance and subsequent recording she became good friends with the orchestra, had cake and all was well. Two other works on the disc involve members of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Cellist Richard Harwood joins Dariescu for Nadia Boulanger's Three Pieces for Cello and Piano, whilst violinist Tomo Keller joins her for Clara Schumann's late masterpiece, her Three Romances for Violin and Piano which were written for Clara's friend violinist Joseph Joachim.

After saying that she hopes everything she does will inspire the next generation, and commenting that she hoped the album put a smile on our faces, she sat down and played three pieces from the disc.  Emmy Schäfer Klein's charming A Child's Dream, James Lee III's highly atmospheric Humble Birth (which almost had Michael Tippett-like hints at times) and a Romanian folk dance by Tudor Ciortea (1903–1982), a composer who studied with Nadia Boulanger and Paul Dukas. Vigorous and highly rhythmic, the work was evidently Dariescu's party piece as a child.

A Child's Dream is released on 6 February 2026. Full details from Signum Records website.

Anonymous no more: Seven uncredited 16th century works from a choirbook created in Arundel & now residing in Lambeth, here given voice for the first time

The Lambeth Anonymous:  Recordings from the Arundel Choirbook; Iken Scholars, Matthew Dunn; RUBICON
Reviewed 3 February 2026

Seven anonymous, hitherto unrecorded works from the Arundel Choirbook now in Lambeth Palace Library now given voice by this group of young singers in a most engaging and illuminating way

Thanks to the vagaries of history, the sources of the music on this lovely disc bandy around rather a variety of names. A pair of choirbooks were likely produced at Arundel College in Sussex in the early 16th century. The college was dissolved in the reign of Henry VIII, but the site was acquired by the Earl of Arundel and has had a variety of uses since.

One of the Arundel choirbooks is now housed in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and is hence known as the Caius Choirbook though the contents relate to Arundel. The manuscript is an important source for works by Robert Fayrfax and Nicholas Ludford. The other Arundel choirbook is now housed in Lambeth Palace Library and variously known as the Arundel Choirbook and the Lambeth Choirbook. With me so far?

The Arundel (Lambeth) and the Caius Choirbooks are linked by significantly overlapping repertoire, similar exceptional size and layout, and shared scribe. More recently, a manuscript roll was discovered in Arundel Castle, written by the same scribe and containing music by Ludford. It is believed the Caius Choirbook was a presentation copy from Arundel College to St Stephen’s, Westminster (from whence it ended up at Gonville and Caius), while the Arundel (Lambeth) Choirbook remained at the college and is thought to have been used in services there before making its way to Lambeth Palace in the late 16th or early 17th century.

Robert Fayrfax and Nicholas Ludford contributed at least ten of the nineteen pieces in the Arundel (Lambeth) Choirbook and there are seven anonymous pieces. It is with these seven anonymous works that this disc is concerned.

On the disc, The Lambeth Anonymous, from Rubicon, Matthew Dunn conducts the Iken Scholars in Salve Regina, Ave dei patris filia, Vidi aquam egredientem, Ave mundi spes Maria, Gaude flore virginali and two Magnificats from the Arundel (Lambeth) Choirbook, all anonymous. Recorded in what was likely the 500th anniversary of the creation of the choirbook, the recording took place in the chapel at Lambeth Palace. The works cover four votive antiphons to Mary, and an antiphon for Eastertide as well as the Magnificats. They are nestled in the choirbook between mass settings by Fayrfax and Ludford on either side and followed by three other Marian devotional pieces by Walter Lambe, Fayrfax and Edmund Sturton.

200 singers, 25 nationalities: Edinburgh Royal Choral Union joins forces with the Brussels Choral Society for Poulenc & Bruckner in Edinburgh

Edinburgh Royal Choral Union joins forces with the Brussels Choral Society for Poulenc & Bruckner in Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Royal Choral Union (ERCU) will join forces with the Brussels Choral Society for a collaborative concert at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh on 15 March 2025, bringing together some 200 singers for music on a grand scale. Michael Bawtree, ERCU's chorus director since 2005, will conduct the choirs along with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera in Francis Poulenc’s Gloria and Anton Bruckner’s Mass in D minor. Solo roles will be performed by the Sòlas Ensemble, a young vocal quartet formed at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

The collaboration follows a sold‑out performance of the same programme by ERCU and Brussels Choral Society at the renowned Bozar concert hall and arts venue in Brussels in December 2025, which received a rapturous response from the audience.

Founded in 1979, the Brussels Choral Society is Belgium’s largest amateur symphony choir, comprising around 100 singers from over 25 different nationalities and known for its wide-ranging repertoire from Baroque masterpieces to contemporary works. Founded in 1858, the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union ( is one of Scotland’s oldest choral societies. A mixed choir of around 120 voices, it is best known for its annual New Year performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Usher Hall, a tradition established in 1888 and continued without interruption, even through two World Wars, alongside an ambitious programme of large-scale choral works and international collaborations.

Further details and tickets from Culture Edinburgh website.

 

Rhapsodies and Variations: the current cohort of LSO Conservatoire Scholars show what they are capable of in their showcase recital at LSO St Luke's

LSO Conservatoire Scholarships 2026 showcase at LSO St Luke's

Last night, 2 February 2026, was the LSO Conservatoire Scholarships 2026 showcase at LSO St Luke's when this year's LSO Conservatoire Scholars gave a recital featuring music by Paganini, Stravinsky, Glinka, Jessie Montgomery, Lutoslawski, Ernst Sachse, Madeleine Dring, Franck Angelis and Bottesini.

Launched in 2023, the LSO Conservatoire Scholarships aim to ensure that musicians of all backgrounds have access to conservatoire training. Each year, the LSO awards ten new individuals with scholarships to contribute to living and maintenance whilst studying, lasting for the duration of their postgraduate course. There are also professional development opportunities with mentoring, coaching, side-by-side rehearsal and performance opportunities.

Deniz Sensoy - LSO Conservatoire Scholarships 2026 showcase at LSO St Luke's

So far, the scheme has supported over 31 artists and applications are now open for the 2026/2027 cohort. Before the recital, we heard from three previous scholars about how significant the support from the scheme was in terms of allowing them space to concentrate on their postgraduate study without the pressure to teach and work as well.

The recital featured 17 of the 18 artists in the current cohort with a diverse range of instruments including seven violinists, a double bass player, pianists, a harpist, an accordionist and a trombonist. Entitled Rhapsodies and Variations, the recital had these two forms threading their way through the music, with Paganini also a feature.

We began with a passionate account of Paganini's famous Caprice No. 24 from violinist Deniz Sensoy, then pianist Nikita Demidenko demonstrated virtuosity of a different type with Guido Agosti's positively outrageous transcription of the Danse Infernale from Stravinsky's Firebird. In a rather more civilised style, Tannaz Beigi demonstrated great poise with Glinka's Variations on a theme of Mozart for solo harp.

Violinist Ugnė Liepa Žuklytė made Jessie Montgomery's Rhapsody No. 2 for solo violin into something vivid and up-front, relishing the cascades of notes. Violinist Alix Vaillot-Szwarc and pianist Alexander Doronin gave us a forceful, passionate account of Bartok's Rhapsody No. 1. The first half ended with an element of wit and whimsy when pianists Mikhail Kaploukhii and Kasparas Mikužis played Lutoslawski's Variations on a Theme by Paganini.

During the interval there was a panel discussion with Kathryn McDowell (managing director of the LSO), violinist Olwen Miles (one of the current cohort of scholars), violinist Maxine Kwok (from the LSO), Jonathan Vaughan (principal of the Guildhall School), and James Williams (principal of the Royal College of Music). Miles emphasised the difference the scholarships made, allowing the recipients time to work at lessons and absorb information properly. Kwok pointed out that when she was a student, the only aim was to be a better violinist, but nowadays, players need to be so much more than that.

Vaughan used a football analogy, commenting that in expecting postgraduate musicians to study and work meant we were expecting Premiership players to work in non-League conditions. Williams highlighted the differences between London and the areas outside where availability of good teachers can be a problem.

The creative industries in the UK brought in 125 billion, and if we want to preserve that share of the creative economy we need to train for it.

Nikolai Demidenko, José Pedro Teixeira - LSO Conservatoire Scholarships 2026 showcase at LSO St Luke's

The second half began with something of a novelty for the non-trombonists in the audience, the Allegro Moderato final movement of Ernst Sachse's Trombone Concertino in B flat played by bass trombone player José Pedro Teixeira and pianist Nikolai Demidenko. Sachse (1813-1890) was a German trombonist and composer who was based in Weimar, worked with Liszt and played in the premiere of Wagner's Lohengrin. The movement from the concertino proved to be a delightfully jaunty piece, the progressively more complex variations putting a smile on your face.

Another lesser known piece was Madeleine Dring's Three Fantastic Variations on 'Lilliburlero' for two pianos, played by Radu-Gabriel Stoica (from the current cohort of scholars) and Michael McHale from the LSO. We heard the final two variations, the first richly romantic and the second full of perky wit.

Accordionist Alise Siliņa played the Fantasie on a Theme of Piazzolla - Chiquilin de Bachin by the French accordionist and composer Franck Angelis (born 1962). A piece that was full of melancholy romanticism alongside some lovely detailed writing for the instrument. Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) is known for a handful of virtuoso works for the double bass, though I also discovered that he conducted the premiere of Verdi's Aida in Cairo. His Grand duo concertante is perhaps one of his best known piece. Here played by Iohan Coman (violin), Strahinja Mitrović (double bass) and Henry Lewis (piano), it was a piece that combined fun with virtuosity, especially watching Mitrovic's left hand dashing all over the fingerboard and producing all manner of dazzling notes.

Strahinja Mitrovic - LSO Conservatoire Scholarships 2026 showcase at LSO St Luke's

We ended with a bit more fun. Irish composer Paul Frost's arrangement of Paganini's Caprice No.24 for four violins, here played by three of the current cohort, Olwen Miles, Emil Hartikainen and Elfida Su Turan plus Maxine Kwok from the LSO. Not so much a transcription as a reworking, Frost gives a catchy jazz-slant to Paganini's piece. Great fun.

But that wasn't the end and everyone joined together for a stirring rendition of the famous slow variation from Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini.