Competition

There is still time to enter our competition to win tickets from Divas and Scholars autumn season which includes champagne evening lecture-recitals on Verdi's Otello and Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur and a study day on Puccini and Verismo with me and Rosalind Plowright. See our competition page for details.

Win Tickets - Our Latest Competition

Rosalind Plowright in Giordano's Andrea Chenier at Bregenz in 2011

Courtesy of Divas & Scholars we have two tickets to give away for their Autumn season of lectures and study days. The winner will receive two tickets for the event of their choice, either the champagne opera evenings on Verdi's Otello (24/9) or Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur (12/11), or the study day on Verismo: Puccini and his contemporaries (15/10) which includes a lecture by me, and a masterclass and talk by mezzo-soprano Rosalind Plowright. 

Full information on how to enter after the break.

Win a day with Bellini and soprano Nelly Miricioiu

Courtesy of Divas and Scholars we have two wonderful prizes in our latest competition. First prize is attendance for two people at Divas and Scholars study day on Bellini at the Cadogan Hall on Thursday 19 June (10.30am to 3.30pm), when there will be lectures from Sarah Lenton and myself, plus a lecture recital from soprano Nelly Miricioiou, giving attendees a chance to spend a whole day learning about Bellini's life and hearing his music in context. 

Second prize is attendance for one person at the Divas and Scholars: History of Opera Champagne Evening on 11 June, when Sandy Burnett will be talking about Bizet's Carmen with musical excerpts provided by Sophie Goldrick accompanied by Christian Dawson.

Full details of how to enter the competition after the break.

There is still time

La belle Dame sans Merci
 
Don't forget that you still have time to enter our competition to win a signed copy of Rosalind Plowright's forthcoming recital disc, La belle Dame sans Merci, her very first recital disc.

See our competition page for more details.

Competition

Don't forget our fabulous competition to win a signed copy of Rosalind Plowright's new recital CD, La belle Dame sans Merci. 

Her first ever recital disc, it contains songs by Alessandro Stradella, Johannes Brahms, Manuel de Falla, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Kurt Weill, Benjamin Britten, Roger Quilter, Ernest Kaye, Charles Villiers Stanford and Frank Bridge, including Manuel de Falla's Siete Canciones Populare Espanoles and Stanford's La belle Dame sans Merci. Rosalind is accompanied by pianist Philip Mountford.

See our competition page for further details.

Win a copy of Rosalind Plowright's La belle Dame sans merci

Mezzo-soprano Rosalind Plowright has a new disc out next month on Romeo Records, her first recital disc.  

La belle dame sans merci includes songs by Alessandro Stradella, Johannes Brahms, Manuel de Falla, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Kurt Weill, Benjamin Britten, Roger Quilter, Ernest Kaye, Charles Villiers Stanford and Frank Bridge, including Manuel de Falla's Siete Canciones Populare Espanoles and Stanford's La belle Dame sans merci. Rosalind is accompanied by pianist Philip Mountford. 

This competition as now closed.

Competition - win tickets for Thierry Huillet recital

Thierry Huillet

We have two tickets to give away for Thierry Huillet's recital at the Institut Francais as part of their It's All About Piano! festival which takes place from 4 to 6 April 2014. Huillet's recital is at 9pm on Saturday 5 April, and Huillet will be performing Debussy's Preludes Book II, plus the world premieres of Huillet's own Haikus on Water for Piano and Haikus for Piano. Huillet is fascinated by Japanese culture and in particular by haikus, which 'reach the essence through simple, brief evocation or description' and 'do not take sides or explain'.

Having won first prize for piano, chamber music, and other disciplines at the Paris Conservatoire, at the age of 22 Huillet won the prestigious First Grand Prize in the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition for Piano in Cleveland.


To enter the competition read on

Competition

Our latest competition, to win an evening with Divas and Scholars: History of Opera is now closed. Many thanks to everyone who entered. The correct answer was that Nelly Miricioiu made her UK debut in the role of Violetta in La Traviata with Scottish Opera.

Still a few hours to go

You still have chance to enter our competition to win an evening with Masterclass and Company to one of their new evenings, Divas & Scholars - THE HISTORY OF OPERA; six evenings on the history of opera with a variety of expert lecturers and fabulous singers (with a glass of champagne!). The final evening will be a lecture/recital from Nelly Miricioiu.


See our competition page for further details

Still two weeks to enter our competition

There are still two weeks to go to enter our fabulous competition to win a champagne evening with Divas and Scholars at one of their History of Opera evenings, with a choice of subjects from six evenings on the history of opera with a variety of expert lecturers and fabulous singers (with a glass of champagne!). The final evening will be a lecture/recital from Nelly Miricioiu. Further information from our competition page.

Win an evening with Divas & Scholars - THE HISTORY OF OPERA

We have a lovely new competition for you courtesy of Masterclass and Company
We are offering a free ticket to one of their new evenings,

Divas & Scholars - THE HISTORY OF OPERA; six evenings on the history of opera with a variety of expert lecturers and fabulous singers (with a glass of champagne!). The final evening will be a lecture/recital from Nelly Miricioiu. The winner can choose from one of the following:
 

• 21st January: Professor Richard Wistreich on Monteverdi and the Birth of Opera.
• 4th February: Professor Jean-Philippe Calvin on Lully – Music for the Sun King.
• 11th February: Mel Cooper on Handel and Purcell.
• 4th March: Norbert Meyn on Mozart – A study of two operas.
• 11th March: Matthew Taylor on Fidelio.
• 18th March Nelly Miricioiu on  Bel Canto.

All run from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, and take place at Markham Square, Chelsea, London SW3

Opera appreciation classes tend to be somewhat dry and fail to reflect the vibrancy and passion of the art form so Masterclass & Co. was formed to develop a new type of opera connoisseurship course. The team present academically sound lectures along with live demonstrations by opera singers in collaboration with the Royal Northern College of Music. Their study days at Cadogan Hall were successfully launched in 2012 and return next year with days devoted to Rossini (on 27 February) and Donizetti (on 3 March).

To enter the competition read on

Competition

Only two days left in which to enter our competition to win a copy of Dorling Kindersley's book Music: The Definitive Visual History, see our competition page for details.

Less than two weeks to go in our competition

There are less than two weeks to go in our competition to win a copy of Dorling Kindersely's book Music: The Definitive Visual History. All you need to do is tell me your favourite composer and why, further details from our Competition page.

Win a copy of 'Music: The Definitive Visual History'

Dorling Kindersley have just issued a very handsome new book Music: The Definitive Visual History, 400 pages packed with images about music in all its forms from the very early beginnings to the very contemporary. A fine editorial team includes Keith Howard, Tess Knighton and Robert Ziegler.

We have a copy of the book to be won, read on: 

Win tickets to hear Roderick Williams singing Brahms' 'Die schöne Magelone'

Title page from Die schön Magelona
Augsburg 1535

There is just one week left to enter our fabulous competition to win tickets for Roderick Williams and Julius Drake's recital on 14 November, when they will be performing Brahms's only song cycle Die schöne Magelone in the historic Temple Church. The cycle sets 15 poems from a novella by Ludwig Tieck, loosely based on a medieval story of courtly love, the poems inspired Brahms to created some of his most intense love songs. We don't get to hear the work often enough and Williams performance promises to be a notable occasion.

Make sure you enter before the competition closes at midnight on 26 October, see our competition page for full details of how to enter.

Two weeks to go to win tickets for Roderick Williams recital at Temple Music

There are still two weeks left to enter our fabulous competition to win tickets for Roderick Williams and Julius Drake's recital on 14 November, when they will be performing Brahms's song cycle Die schone Magelone in the historic Temple Church. 

See our competition page for details of how to enter.

Three weeks to go to win tickets for Roderick Williams recital at Temple Music

There are still three weeks left to enter our fabulous competition to win tickets for Roderick Williams and Julius Drake's recital on 14 November, when they will be performing Brahms's song cycle Die schone Magelone in the historic Temple Church. 

See our competition page for details of how to enter.

Win tickets for Roderick Williams recital at Temple Music

To celebrate Temple Music's new season of recitals at Temple Church and in Middle Temple Hall, we have two tickets to be won for Roderick Williams' recital with Julius Drake (piano) on 14 November. Roderick Williams and Julius Drake will be performing Brahms's song cycle Die schone Magelone. Described as one of the most quintessential products of early romanticism in music, the song cycle sets texts from the novel The Wondrous Love Story of the Beautiful Magelone and Count Peter of Provence by Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853), a favourite novel of Brahms's youth.

Temple Music's 2013/14 season opened on 23 September with a recital by Annette Dasch and Julius Drake, and continues with performances by Endymion, the Sacconi String Quartet, the Wallfisch-York Duo and the Sixteen, plus a screening of the silent film Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. For dates and times, and further information, see the Temple Music website.

The competition is now closed.

Competition results

Our competition to win tickets for Live by the Lake at Kenwood closed this morning. Congratulations to the 50 people who entered the correct answer (Ana Maria Martinez caused a stir at Glyndebourne in 2009 in Rusalka) and particular congratulations to Hayley whose name came out the hat first. We hope that she enjoys Opera Alfresco on 31 August, with Ana Maria Martinez, Wynne Evans and David Kempster and the ENO Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel in Bizet- Carmen & The Pearl Fishers • Rossini - William Tell & The Barber of Seville • Dvorak - Rusalka • Puccini - La Boheme, Madam Butterfly & Turandot • Verdi - Don Carlos, La Forza del Destino, Rigoletto & La Traviata.

Only four days left! Win tickets to Live by the Lake at Kenwood

Don't forget our fabulous competition to celebrate Live by the Lake, the return of outdoor concerts to Kenwood we have two tickets for the Opera Alfresco event on 31 August to give away. See our competition page for more details, you have until 14 August to enter.