In case you missed it

 

Cherubini: Médée - Lila Dufy, Joyce El-Khoury in Act One - Opéra Comique (Photo: Stefan Brion)

Juliet, Jenůfa, Médée & Mary, Queen of Scots

February on Planet Hugill, our monthly digest of interviews and reviews has just come out. If you don't already subscribe, get it at MailChimp.

Welcome to February on Planet Hugill, a month that includes rare performances of Cherubini's Médée and Thea Musgrave's Mary, Queen of Scots and the start of English Touring Opera's Spring tour, not forgetting Schubert's birthday at Wigmore Hall.

Interviews this month include composer Jay Capperauld on Bruckner's obsession with death, George Petrou artistic director of the Göttingen International Handel Festival on this year's festival, composer Michael Zev Gordon on writing A Kind of Haunting, his new piece inspired by his family's experience of the Holocaust and Peter Mallinson on exploring the surprisingly fertile ground of music for two violas.

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January on Planet Hugill: Our newsletter is out on Mailchimp

The Dead - Niamh Cusack, The Fourth Choir, Jamie Powe - Wilton's Music Hall (Photo: Kathleen Holman)

January on Planet Hugill
Handel in 1749, Mozart in 1775 and Schubert's 228th birthday

Our newsletter January on Planet Hugill, is out, looking back at a month when we took time to recharge batteries, but also managed to hear both of Handel's oratorios from 1749, eavesdrop on Mozart's sound-world from 1775 as well as celebrating Schubert's birthday at Wigmore Hall. Interviews this month included a feature on Vaughan William's Riders to the Sea, getting a rare outing in February, and a deep dive into the world of composer Steven Daverson's mix of orchestra and live electronics.

Our record reviews this month include rarities such as sonatas by JS Bach's 'other' composer son, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, Ethel Smyth's earliest orchestral work, one of the other concertos for Left Hand commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, Walton's complete songs (there aren't many but they are terrific) and the final symphony by Canadian composer Jacques Hétu.

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In case you missed it: August on Planet Hugill: Ruddigore, Fedora, Alice and the Sphinx

Wagner: Tannhäuser - Le Gateau Chocolat - Bayreuth Festival (Photo: Bayreuther Festspiele / Enrico Nawrath)

Welcome to our newsletter August on Planet Hugill, a month which saw the start of the BBC Proms, and the end of the Opera Holland Park season. Our correspondent Tony was in Bayreuth whilst we caught up with IF Opera in Bradford on Avon, and the London Song Festival included a remarkable Granville Bantok premiere.

Interviews include Catherine Larsen-Maguire the new music director of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, Cameron Menzies, the artistic director of Northern Ireland Opera and John Wilkie who directed Giordano's Fedora for IF Opera.

Read more in our newsletter, August on Planet Hugill, via Mad Mimi. If you don't already subscribe then sign up, http://madmimi.com/signups/21101/join

In case you missed it - July on Planet Hugill

Massenet: Le roi de Lahore - Michael Anthony McGee, Amar Muchhala, Seljan Nasibli, Julian Close - Dorset Opera (Photo: Julian Guidera)

Our July newsletter is out, with coverage of Carmen in a Quarry, the Thaxted Festival, the Three Choirs Festival as well as coverage of the start of the BBC Proms and Opera Holland Park. Interviews include baritone Benjamin Appl and tenor Elgan Llyr Thomas.

Read July on Planet Hugill at MadMimi, or get the newsletter every month by signing up.

March on Planet Hugill: rare opera from Ethel Smyth, Tchaikovsky, Donizetti, Rossini; Manchester in Focus; Tosca in Leeds

Our latest newsletter, March on Planet Hugill has just gone out to subscribers. A handy digest of all the month's reviews, interviews and features on Planet Hugill, if you don't already subscribe then do sign up at MadMimi.

May on Planet Hugill - Cardiff, Dresden and beyond

Christopher Ainslie and Roland Wood in Julian Anderson's Thebans at ENO

May on Planet Hugill opened opened with the premiere of Julian Anderson's Thebans, a thrilling new addition to the operatic repertoire.

Wigmore Hall, Croydon, Weston-super-Mare and Cadogan Hall

Illness meant that we got two tenors for the price of one at the Rosenblatt Recital at Wigmore Hall which was shared by Luis Gomes and Giordano Luca. We caught the Sixteen's Choral Pilgrimmage in Croydon, Peter Leech and Harmonia Sacra in Weston-super-mare and The Tallis Scholars at Cadogan Hall. Alexandra Dariescu and Alexandru Tomescu explored 20th century Romanian composers.

In case you missed it - January on Planet Hugill

Welcome to January on Planet Hugill

January started with the Planet Hugill list, Hilary and my list of our memorable events from 2013.

Sondheim, Handel and new opera

Our post Christmas treat was Stephen Sondheim's Candide at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Second Movement's Rough for Opera gave us three very different, very new operas. The Sixteen performed Handel's late masterpiece Jephtha at the Barbican with James Gilchrist in the title role.

In case you missed it: November on Planet Hugill

Welcome to our monthly round up, a busy November which took in Gesualdo, Gallay, Gabrieli and Goss, and lots more.

Verdi, Mozart and Britten

November started with a second visit to see the new production of Verdi's Les Vepres Siciliennes at the Royal Opera House, and there was a second view of ENO's new Magic Flute. Britten's centenary celebrations included Albert Herring with a spectacular cast at the Barbican

To Brighton and Beyond

The Brighton Early Music Festival (BREMF) took us to Ferrara for Passion and the Princess, to Venosa for Clare Norburn's play about Gesualdo, Breaking the Rules and brought us Profane Deliriums from Portugal and Brazil. They finished in Leipzig with Bach's St John Passion.

Mainly Choral

The choir of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea brought us another choral masterpiece, Handel's Israel in Egypt, the Sixteen performed early Tudor sacred music in the Temple Church and Stile Antico celebrated the centenary of the Carnegie UK Trust with their programme of Tudor church music, Phoenix Rising, at the Cadogan Hall. The Temple Singers and the Holst Singers joined the Aurora Orchestra under Roger Sayer for an all Britten programme at Temple Church.
The Benyounes Quartet were joined by cellist Philip Higham for a programme of Britten and Schubert

October on Planet Hugill - Cardiff, Hamburg and Brighton

Welcome to what was a busy October on Planet Hugill.

Hamburg and Cardiff

October saw my visit to Hamburg continuing with a concert from theHamburg Philharmonic, a visit to the spectacular new concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie and further visits to the Reeperbahn Festival. Whilst TheCultureTrip.com website carried a further article about theReeperbahn Festival

Then Cardiff beckoned for WNO's striking trilogy of Donizetti operas,Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux.