No easy options: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Tallinn Chamber Orchestra celebrate Arvo Pärt at 90 at Barbican

Adam's Lament: Arvo Pärt at 90 - Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tõnu Kaljuste - Barbican Hall (Photo: Raigo Pajula / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir)

Adam's Lament: Arvo Pärt at 90 - Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, L’abbé Agathon, Adam's Lament, Fratres, Te Deum; Maria Listra, Harry Traksmann, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tõnu Kaljuste ; Barbican Hall
Reviewed 7 October 2025

Mysticism, drama & intense spirituality in a selection of Arvo Pärt's music that mixed the familiar with the less familiar from performers closely associated with his work.

The UK celebrations for Arvo Pärt's birthday continued on 7 October 2025 with a return visit from Tõnu Kaljuste and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir this time with Tallinn Chamber Orchestra at a concert at the Barbican Hall which was attended by His Excellency Alar Karis, President of the Republic of Estonia. The concert, titled Adam's Lament, featured a welcome mix of the well-known and the lesser known with Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, L’abbé Agathon (with soprano Maria Listra), Adam's Lament, Fratres (with violinist Harry Traksmann) and Te Deum, along with Vespers by Ester Mägi, the former first lady of Estonian music who died in 2021 at the age of 99.

Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten opened the concert with the aethereal sound of bells, followed by the strings, very quiet and intent yet very present. The work, with its different lines moving at different speeds, uses a technique from Renaissance music yet the result feels modern and effortless, the continuous movement creating a single whole. The end, with its intimate decrescendo down to a single, everlasting chord, was magical.

Adam's Lament: Arvo Pärt at 90 - Maria Listra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tõnu Kaljuste - Barbican Hall (Photo: Raigo Pajula / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir)

BBC Proms: Arvo Pärt at 90

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tõnu Kaljuste - BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

Arvo Pärt, Galina Grigorjeva, Rachmaninov, Bach, Veljo Tormis; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tõnu Kaljuste, Kadri Toomoja; BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Reviewed 31 July 2025

An iconic Estonian ensemble celebrating the great Estonian composer's 90th birthday with a wide-ranging programme of his music alongside that of contemporaries and influences.

This year Arvo Pärt is 90 and everyone is celebrating. At the BBC Proms, rather than including one of the composer's larger scale works, the focus of the celebrations was a visit by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir which has had a long association with the composer's music. I have heard the choir live before, in Tallinn, performing in the relatively grateful acoustics of a former church [see my review] and the large hall of Kultuurikatel (Cultural Cauldron), a former industrial building [see my review], whilst in 2018 as part of Estonia's centenary celebrations they performed at the Barbican [see our review]. The vast spaces of the Royal Albert Hall are, perhaps, a less sympathetic arena but there is no doubt that an invitation to perform Arvo Pärt at such an iconic venue as part of the BBC Proms was a significant moment.

At the late night Prom on Thursday 31 July 2025, Tõnu Kaljuste conducted the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, with Kadri Toomoja organ, in Arvo Pärt's Da pacem Domine, Veni creator, Magnificat, The Deer's Cry, Fur Jan van Eyck, Peace upon you, Jerusalem and De Profunds, along with Galina Grigorjeva's Svyatki - 'Spring is Coming', two movements from Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil (Vespers), Bach's motet Ich lasse dich nicht, and Curse upon Iron by Veljo Tormis who would have been 95 this year.

Veljo Tormis: Curse upon Iron - Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tõnu Kaljuste - BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

In the Royal Albert Hall there was less sense of the choir's vibrant tone quality that you can appreciate in smaller venues, but throughout the evening there was an impressive strength to the performance, a muscular quality to set against the English style of Arvo Pärt choral singing. Though it is worth bearing in mind that the choir fielded around 27 singers. The BBC producers had obviously decided that as this was a late-night concert of Baltic minimalism, we ought to have a light show too. The pictures here do not quite do justice to the rather lurid light effects that accompanied some of the music.

An Eastern Vigil

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
photo Kaupo Kikkas

An Eastern Vigil: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Daniel Reuss, Gilad Atzmon at LSO St Lukes
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jan 22 2014
Star rating: 4.5
Stunning opening concert of the London A Cappella Festival from Estonian visitors

The London A Cappella Festival opened last night (22 January 2014) with a performance by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC), conductor Daniel Reuss, and saxophonist Gilad Atzmon at LSO St. Luke's. An Eastern Vigil presented us with a hypnotic sequence of sacred works inspired by the Orthodox tradition with music by Arvo Part, Alfred Schnittke, Cyrillus Kreek, Vasyl Barvinsky, Nikolai Kedrov and Sergei Rachmaninov. These were interspersed with improvisations from Gilad Atzmon.

The music was performed continuously, without breaks for applause. As the house lights were right down, making it difficult to read the programmes, there was an element of the innocent ear in listening to the programme though naturally Part's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis stood out as familiar. The front section of the audience was seat at tables, cabaret style, adding to the club-like atmosphere of the event.

Dance of Life CD launch

Soprano Patricia Rozario recording
Roxanna Panufnik's Dance of Life Tallinn Mass

In what was to be the first event in an Estonian themed day, (see my review of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir's concert), I attended the launch of Roxanna Panufnik's Dance of Life Tallinn Mass on Warner Classics yesterday (22 January 2014). Recorded by Patricia Rozario, Jaak Johanson, Estonian TV Girls Choir, Collegium Musicale Chamber Choir, Choir of Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra conducted by Mihhail Gerts, the work is an intriguing piece which was commissioned for Tallinn's being European City of Culture in 2011. Designed to reflect Tallinn being both modern and ancient, the work combines contemporary poetry with settings of the Latin mass, all inspired by a 15th century painting of the Dance of Death in Tallinn. The poems by Doris Kareva and Jurgen Rooste take characters from the paintings but they are brought a message of hope by Life, sung by Patricia Rosario, who invites them to join the Dance of Life.

In the presence of the Estonian Ambassador to the UK, the poets Doris Karleva and Jurgen Rooste, as well as representatives of the Estonian commissioners of the work, we heard a presentation from Roxana Panufnik along with a reading from Doris Kareva, and a live performance from soprano Patricia Rozario and Jurgen Rooste, plus video footage from the recording.

Estonian Classical Music Networking event

In between Wednesday's (22 January 2014) CD launch for Roxanna Panufnik's Dance of Life: Tallinn Mass (see my article) and the evening's concert by the Estonia Philharmonic Chamber Choir (see my review) there was a networking event at St Giles Cripplegate designed to showcase Estonian music making and bring Estonian classical music professionals together with counterparts from the UK. We were treated to a series of performances by Estonian artists including the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under conductor Daniel Reuss, Sten Lassmann, Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta under conductor Andres Mustonen, Riivo Kallasmaa, Monika-Evelin Liiv, Anna-Liisa Bezrodny and Ulla Krigul, performing music by Estonian composers including Arvo Part, Heino Eller, Erkki-Sven Tuur, Peeter Vahi, Tonu Korvits and Rein Rannap.

Estonia has a population of 1.3 million people, which is about the same number as in metropolitan Birmingham. As such it punches far above its weight when it comes to classical music. Perhaps the long tradition of singing, including the way singing was central to the independence movement, has something to do with it. Though the music of Arvo Part is familiar to many, there are a remarkable number of other fine composers.

In case you missed it: April on Planet Hugill - Bach at Kings Place, new music in Tallinn, Lucia of Lammermoor

Royal Opera House's new production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, photo credit Stephen Cummiskey

Welcome to April on Planet Hugill, where events included our visit to Estonia for the Estonian Music Days.

Opera started with Katie Mitchell's new production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at Covent Garden, whilst on a different scale entirely the Drayton Arms presented Euphonia's small scale yet intense account of Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride. We also heard a concert performance of an exciting rediscovery, Niccolo Jommelli's Il Vologeso performed by Classical Opera, conductor Ian Page.

Looking ahead: Rattle-mania and more at the Barbican in 2017/18

LSO with Sir Simon Rattle - photo Ranald Mackechnie

The Barbican's 2017/18 classical music season is one of enormous diversity. Simon Rattle takes up his post at the London Symphony Orchestra with music from Byrd to Birtwistle, Sakari Oramo conducts all of Sibelius' symphonies, Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking gets its UK premiere with Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen, Iestyn Davies sings the title role in Handel's Rinaldo and the Academy of Ancient Music perform Purcell's King Arthur.

Visitors include the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of La Scala and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Composers celebrated include Esa-Pekka Salonen, Julian Anderson and Leonard Bernstein. American pianist Jeremy Denk is the artist in residence at Milton Court.

The Barbican is making a big splash for the arrival of Simon Rattle at the London Symphony Orchestra with ten days of concerts under the banner This is Rattle which includes Rattle conducting the LSO in five evening concerts with repertoire ranging from Helen Grime, Harrison Birtwistle, Thomas Adès and Oliver Knussen, through Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust to Stravinsky's ballets, plus a series of composer curated concerts given by musicians from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Britten Sinfonia and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

Away from the Rattle-mania, there are plenty of other good things going on.

Joyce DiDonato with Philip Cutlip in Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie
at Houston Grand Opera, 2011 - photo Felix Sanchez

Bernard Haitink returns to the LSO for concerts not only including Brahms and Beethoven but Thomas Adès too. A celebration of all things Bernstein includes Marin Alsop and Simon Rattle conducting all the symphonies, and Wonderful Town too (albeit in a shortened concert version). Rattle's other concerts include Das Lied von der Erde with Simon O'Neill and Christian Gerhaher (if we must have the baritone version then Gerhaher is probably the only person to bring it off). Michael Tilson Thomas will be conducting the LSO and London Symphony Chorus in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with Joelle Harvey, Sasha Cooke, Toby Spence and Luca Pisaroni. Francois-Xavier Roth will be conducting a series commemorating the centenary of the death of Debussy and at LSO St Lukes there is a day devoted to Debussy's piano music with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

All tickets for under-18s at LSO's Barbican concerts will be £5, there is also a new initiative: Half Six Fix – early evening concerts conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, Simon Rattle and François-Xavier Roth, offering an hour of orchestral music at the end of the working day. In 2018, Simon Rattle will direct a performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Gruppen in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern.

The Academy of Ancient Music presents a semi staged version of Purcell's King Arthur conducted by Richard Egarr and staged by Daisy Evans, with Louise Alder, Mhairi Lawson, Charles Daniels and Peter Harvey, and other concerts include a programme directed by Pavlo Beznosiuk which explores the English links of the 18th century Italian concerto grosso

Martyn Brabbins conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Birtwistle's Earth Dances and RVW's Sea Symphony with Elizabeth Watts and Marcus Farnsworth. Lili Boulanger's music pops up in a BBC SO concert conducted by Jon Storgards and Sakari Oramo is conducting a full cycle of Sibelius symphonies with the BBC SO. Jospe Pons conducts the orchestra in Granados Goyescos. Joyce DiDonato features as Sister Helen in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking conducted by Mark Wigglesworth and directed by Leonard Foglia; rather amazingly the works UK premiere and a chance to hear a work which is very popular in the USA.  Sakari Oramo conducts Elgar's Dream of Gerontius with Stuart Skelton, Alice Coote and Alan Ewing.

The BBC Singers are conducted by Peter Dijkstra in a reconstruction of Mendelssohn's version of Bach's St Matthew Passion with Nicolas Mulroy as the Evangelist and Brindley Sherratt as Christus, and the choir gives an all Handel programme conducted by Sofi Jeanin.

The BBC's first Total Immersion day is devoted to Julian Anderson, with a programme of events culminating in Edward Gardner conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in an all Anderson programme with Carolin Widman the soloist in In lieblicher Blaue. And the second is devoted to Esa-Pekka Salonen concluding with Sakari Oramo conducting an all Salonen programme. The final Total Immersion day brings all the Bernstein strands together with a day devoted to his music.

The Britten Sinfonia is joined by Kings College Choir for a programme which pairs Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with RVW's Dona Nobis Pacem and a new work from Emma Ruth Richards. And Britten Sinfonia Voices join the Britten Sinfonia for Stravinsky's Mass conducted by Eamonn Dougann in a programme of Mozart and Stravinsky. Thomas Ades conducts the orchestra in a cycle pairing Beethoven's symphonies with the music of Gerald Barry.

The English Concert, conducted by Harry Bicket, is returning with another Handel opera. This time Iestyn Davies sings the title role in Handel's Rinaldo; Handel's first opera for England and a role which Davies sang very memorably at Glyndebourne in 2014 (see my review).

Solomon's Knot will be performing all of Bach's motets in a Bach Weekend which includes Isabelle Faust and Kristian Bezuidenhout in Bach's Violin Sonatas, the Monteverdi Choir, Jean Rondeau in the Goldberg Variation, Jean-Guihen Queyras in the Cello Suites.

Singcircle, director Gregory Rose will be performing Stockhausen's Stimmung and Cosmic Pulses. Other visitors include Cecilia Bartoli, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Les Talens Lyriques in Francois Couperin, Franco Fagioli and the Venice Baroque Orchestra in Vivaldi and Handel Les Arts Florissants in Monteverdi's Selva morale e spirituale, Jonas Kaufmann, Diana Damrau and Helmut Deutsch in Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch. 

Christopher Purves joins Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo for an all Handel programme, Mark Elder conducts the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle with Robert Hayward. Gustavo Dudamel brings the Los Angeles Phiharmonic for three concerts, performing Varese, Shostakovich, Ted Hearne, Bernstein (Chichester Psalms) and Beethoven.

Full details from the Barbican website though there is so much on offer you might be better off downloading the season brochure (PDF).

Panufnik - Dance of Life: Tallinn Mass

Roxanna Panufnik Dance of Life - Tallinn Mass: Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Patricia Rozario, Mihhail Gerts: Warner Classics
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Jan 23 2014
Star rating: 4.0
Ancient and modern, new work inspired by 15th century Dance of Death

Roxanna Panufnik's Dance of Life - Tallinn Mass is a large scale dramatic work which incorporates elements of the mass with other dramatic elements. Written for the Tallinn Philharmonic to celebrate Tallin's designation as European Capital of Culture in 2011, the work is here receiving its first recording performed by the Estonia TV Girls Choir, Collegium Musicale Chamber Choir, Choir of Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra conducted by Mihhail Gerts with Patricia Rozario, Jaak Johanson, Laura Lindpere and Madis Metsamart. The text juxtaposes the Latin mass movements with ten new poems by Estonian poets Doris Kareva and Jurgen Rooste.

Rather bravely Panufnik set the work in Estonian, as the poems are inspired by the Dance of Death, a 15th century painting in Tallin's St. Nicholas Church. The soloists in the work are soprano Patricia Rozario who plays Elu (Life), and Jaak Johanson as the narrator, plus Laura Linpere playing the kennel which is an Estonia psaltery, plus Madis Metsamart on percussion.

In between performances of Wagner’s Ring cycle at Staatsoper Berlin, Tony Cooper finds time to fit in a thrilling concert by the Berlin Philharmonic.

Daniele Gatti, Berlin Philharmonic - Philharmonie, Berlin

Webern: Langsamer Satz, Stravinsky: Symphony in C, Brahms: Symphony No.3 in F major, Op.90; Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, cond: Daniele Gatti; Philharmonie, Berlin
Reviewed by Tony Cooper on 9 October 2025

Hearing the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, under Daniele Gatti, in the confines of the swishy Philharmonie Berlin proved a big treat 

Never really wanting a day off, especially in Berlin, I thoroughly enjoyed a marvellous concert by the Berlin Philharmonic under Daniele Gatti at the Philharmonie Berlin offering a programme right up my street. They performed a trio of handsome and entertaining works comprising Webern’s Langsamer Satz - Slow Movement for String Quartet in E flat major, Stravinsky’s Symphony in C and Brahms’ Symphony No.3 in F major, Op.90. 

Completing Langsamer Satz in June 1905, Webern was inspired to write it by the innermost feelings for his future wife, Wilhelmine Mörtl, whom he enjoyed a mountain holiday prior to marriage. An emotionally charged work, for sure, it conveys themes of yearning, turmoil and tranquillity and is notable for its post-Brahmsian tonal idiom.  

Born in 1883 into a wealthy aristocratic Viennese family, Webern was close to Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg, a trio of progressive composers dubbed the ‘Second Viennese School’. Schoenberg, of course, invented the twelve-tone technique therefore Webern was well acquainted with this musical style and kept up to date with the latest developments in music.  

In the moment: John Butt & the OAE explore the glorious richness of Handel's most lavish oratorio, Solomon as the opener to their anniversary season

Handel: Solomon - John Butt, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Queen Elizabeth Hall (Photo: Mark Allan)

Handel: Solomon; Helen Charlston, Nardus Williams, Hugo Hymas, Florian Störtz, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Choir of the Enlightenment, John Butt; Queen Elizabeth Hall
Reviewed 12 October 2025

The OAE begins its 40th anniversary celebrations with the rich textures of Handel's lavish oratorio giving us a feeling of profound satisfaction as one glorious event followed another.

The alarums and excursions associated with the 1745 Jacobite Rebellio, when the Jacobite army reached Derby, had a significant effect on the question of what sort of dramatic work an oratorio was supposed to be. Handel followed his pre-rebellion sequence of dramatic oratorios ending with Belshazzar in March 1745 with four military oratorios. Some, like the Occasional Oratorio were deliberately attuned to unstable times whilst Judas Maccabaeus had wider success. After Alexander Balus in 1748, where the military victories of the first half of the work are followed by personal tragedy, Handel seems to have set himself the challenge of returning to the question of what exactly was an oratorio.

What followed in 1749 was Susanna, a mix of pastoral comedy and moral tale, and Solomon, a plotless exploration of a sort of golden age rule, then in 1750 came Theodora, based on a romantic novel and much closer to what we might consider opera, then Jephtha in 1752 where the return of Handel's favourite tenor, John Beard led to the creation of a remarkable anti-hero.

Similarly the forces Handel uses in these works varies in a way that suggests deliberate choice rather than economic necessity. Solomon is perhaps one of Handel's most lavish with its double choruses and one of the largest orchestras Handel wrote for - flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and drums.

Handel: Solomon - Nardus Williams, Helen Charlston, John Butt, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Queen Elizabeth Hall (Photo: Mark Allan)

It was Handel's Solomon in all its celebratory richness that the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment chose to open its 2025/26 season, celebrating the orchestra's 40th anniversary. John Butt conducted at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall on 12 October 2025. Helen Charlston was Solomon with Nardus Williams as Solomon's Queen, First Woman, and the Queen of Sheba, Hugo Hymas as Zadok and Florian Störtz as A Levite.

Before he was famous: Bellini's first opera, Adelson e Salvini

Bellini Adelson e Salvini; Simone Alberghini, Daniel Barcellona, Enea Scalea, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Daniele Rusitoni; Opera Rara
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Mar 3 2017
Star rating: 4.0
Bellini's first opera in a valuable new recording which reflects the opera's original version

Because Bellini wrote so few operas, his early ones take on a greater prominence in his catalogue so Opera Rara's new recording of Bellini's first opera Adelson e Salvini is most welcome. It might not be a masterpiece (anything but), yet there is the delight of teasing out the later references. The disc features Simone Alberghini as Adelson, Enea Scala as his friend Salvini, with Rodion Pogossov as Struley, Daniela Barcellona as Nelly, Maurizio Muraro as Bonifacio, David Soar as Geronio, plus Leah-Marian Jones and Kathryn Rudge, with Daniele Rustioni conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Opera Rara Chorus (chorus master Eamonn Dougan).

Bellini wrote the opera in 1825 for the conservatoire in Naples (rather than the bigger theatre of the opera house) and the cast were all students with men playing the roles of the women. All the women's roles were reduced, except for the heroine Nelly who was sung by 14 year old Giacinto Marras. I presume that he wasn't a counter-tenor per se but used the upper extension of his tenor voice (which was common, the tenor Giovanni David could go up to F at least). When Bellini was hoping for a revival of the work and started to revise it into two acts, the female roles went up in pitch. But he abandoned work in this and the surviving revised version seems to be a mix of Bellini and his friend Florimo. So on this disc we get the original version, with a few revised numbers in an appendix.

But the female roles are all sung by women, which means that they suffer rather from the tessitura and you can't help wishing that someone could have come up with a more inventive solution!  And with an orchestra fielding over 30 strings, you suspect that the recording is on a far larger scale than the performances in the small theatre of the conservatoire. The only singer who really gets to exercise their upper register is tenor Enea Scala who plays Salvini.

The opera was recorded in conjunction with a concert performance at the Barbican which Ruth reviewed for this blog.

From RVW's Sancta Civitas & Bliss' The Beatitudes to Reich's The Desert Music & Birtwistle's Earth Dances, plus 19 premieres: the BBC Proms 2025

This years BBC Proms are the first under the stewardship of Sam Jackson, controller of BBC Radio 3 who took over the Proms this year from David Pickard. Running from 18 July to 13 September, the festival features 72 Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and 14 at venues around the UK.

The First Night opens with the Birthday Fanfare for Sir Henry Wood, by Sir Arthur Bliss, who died fifty years ago this year. Sakari Oramo conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in an evening that also include Ralph Vaughan Williams' rarely performed Sancta Civitas which was completed 100 years ago, and the premiere of Errollyn Wallen's The Elements, a BBC commission.

Bliss anniversary celebrations during the season also include his cantata The Beatitudes, premiered in Coventry at the same time as Britten's War Requiem and rather overshadowed by that work. The Beatitudes is well worth exploring and I look forward to hearing the work with Oramo conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Singers in a programme that also includes Ruth Gipps' Death on a Pale Horse.

Major anniversaries include Shostakovich who also died fifty years ago.

Speaking the language of the past: Patrick Ayrton goes beyond Sir Philip Sidney with Astrophil & Stella inspired by the world of English 17th-century composers

Lauren Lodge Campbell, Patrick Ayrton & ensemble recording Astrophil & Stella for VOCES8 Records

The more literary-minded amongst you may recall that Astrophil & Stella is the name of a sonnet sequence by the Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586). Containing some 108 sonnets, the sequence was written in the 1580s and printed in 1591, five years after Sidney's death. Contemporary composer Patrick Ayrton has taken the name Astrophil & Stella for his new song cycle, which is released on VOCES8 Records with soprano Lauren Lodge-Campbell and an instrumental ensemble which Patrick directs from the harpsichord.

Patrick is best known as an organ scholar and harpsichordist; he was Ton Koopman's assistant and currently teaches at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. His Astrophil & Stella cycle takes its inspiration from Patrick's fascination with the world of Purcell, Blow, Locke, and other seventeenth-century English composers, and Patrick sets texts by Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, Ben Jonson, and John Lyly.

Favourite songs & last words: Schubert weekend in Oxford with Nikola Hillebrand, Julius Drake, Thomas Oliemans & Paolo Giacometti

Schwanengesang - Thomas Oliemans at Oxford International Song Festival

Schubert Weekend: Nikola Hillebrand, Julius Drake, Thomas Oliemans, Paolo Giacometti; Oxford International Song Festival at Holywell Music Room
Reviewed 19 October 2025

A young German soprano making her festival debut with a profoundly beautiful and expressive afternoon of favourite songs. Then in the evening, a festival favourite returned with an intense account of Schubert's final song cycle. Last words indeed.

Sunday 19 October was the second day of this year's Oxford International Song Festival's Schubert weekend with concerts including an afternoon event with soprano Nikola Hillebrand and pianist Julius Drake in favourite Schubert songs, and then in the evening baritone Thomas Oliemans and pianist Paolo Giacometti in Schubert's Schwanengesang plus two late-works for piano duet.

Nikola Hillebrand is a young German soprano making a name for herself in opera and song, bringing a lovely fresh approach to her afternoon recital. By contrast THomas Oliemans is a festival favourite. A born story teller in 2023 we heard him in Wolf's Mörike-Lieder [see my review] and in 2019 in a Day of the Dead themed programme [see my review] though we missed his astonishing self-accompanied Winterreise in 2022.

At the Holywell Music Room, Nikola Hillebrand and Julius Drake presented an afternoon programme called Im Abentrot, named for the Schubert song that opened a programme which then explored links both familiar and unfamiliar. This was Hillebrand's debut at the festival; she won the prestigious ‘Das Lied’ competition in Heidelberg in 2019. She was a member of the Semperoper Dresden ensemble from 2020 to 2024, along with appearances at Bavarian State Opera, Opera House Zürich, Hamburg State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. She appeared as Barbarina in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne in 2016.

Gluck Arias: Ann Hallenberg's latest disc with The Mozartists is the result of her long and fruitful relationship with conductor Ian Page

Ann Hallenberg, The Mozartists, Ian Page recording Gluck Arias (Photo: Ben Ealovega)

Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg has a new album out. For Gluck Arias on Signum Classics, she joined forces with conductor Ian Page, with whom she has had a long and fruitful relationship, and The Mozartists for a programme of arias from Gluck's operas, both known - Orfeo ed Euridice, Paride ed Elena - and unknown - Il trionfo di Clelia, Ipermestra, Ezio, Il Parnaso confuso, Semiramide riconosciuta, and Le nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe. The operas stretch right across Gluck's career from his first complete surviving opera, Ipermestra (1744), to Paride ed Elena (1770). Their selection takes in both the original 1762 version of Orfeo ed Euridice and the rarely performed revised version Gluck produced for Parma in 1769. The disc has already received plaudits in the press with the Gramophone referring to it as "this skilfully curated exposition of Gluck’s humane genius". 

Ann Hallenberg, The Mozartists, Ian Page at Wigmore Hall in 2016

Ann explains that the idea of the disc has been bubbling away for around ten years. Back in 2016, she performed at Wigmore Hall with Ian Page and the Mozartists, when they included a couple of Gluck arias. These went down well, and both Ann and Ian thought this might be a disc. Their relationship developed subsequently; not only has she performed with The Mozartists again (including at Wigmore Hall in 2023), but when she was artist in residence at Drottningholm, she invited Ian to conduct the production of Handel's Ariodante with Ann in the title role. She comments that it is nice to meet a conductor where you both think the same way, so you do not have to discuss everything. Things flow very easily with him.

They started with far more material than would be needed for a disc, sifting through the arias, checking that not only was the music suitable for Ann's voice but that she liked the aria. Often with recital discs, she explains that the selection must take account of the instruments available, but this time there were no such restrictions. She had the luxury of singing with a full orchestra. The result, she feels, is a good programme with a good mix of different sounds and colours.

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.

Letter from Florida: Stéphane Denève conducts Beethoven's Eroica

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 Eroica - New World Symphony, Stéphane Denève  - New World Center (Photo: Alex Markow)

James Lee III: Chuphshah! Harriet’s Drive to Canaan (2011), Copland: Lincoln Portrait (1942), Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, Eroica; New World Symphony, Stéphane Denève, Ziwei Ma, Joshua Malina; New World Center, Miami, Florida
Reviewed by Robert J Carreras on 4 October 2025

In his latest Letter from Florida Robert J Carreras is made thoughtful by a programnme which turned the watchful lens of history on human bondage and oppression with contemporary composer James Lee III alongside Copland and Beethoven

Composers James Lee III, Aaron Copland, and Ludwig van Beethoven – a curious consort at first glance, it is agreed. Let’s look closer with the help of the program curated by New World Symphony (NWS) for this evening. 

Lee’s Chuphshah! Harriet’s Drive to Canaan [inspired by the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman] and Copland’s Lincoln Portrait turn the watchful lens of history on human bondage and oppression. The backstory of Beethoven’s Third Symphony explains how he presaged the human bondage and oppression of tyranny, and in so doing turned away from Napoleon Bonaparte I.

As a centuries-removed compatriot of “le petit caporal,” NWS Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Stéphane Denève is in an unique position to recount that Beethoven wanted this symphony to be a celebration of Napoleon’s revolutionary and democratic ideals. Why Napoleon was himself a revolutionary, almost jailed at one time for it.

New World Symphony, Stéphane Denève  - outside New World Center (Photo: Alex Markow)

Engagingly modern: Rossini's Cinderella at ENO is given a modern updating by Julia Burbach with winning performances from Deepa Johnny & Aaron Godfrey-Mayes

Rossini: La Cenerentola (Cinderella) - Deepa Johnny, Charles Rice - English National Opera (Photo: Mark Douet)

Rossini: La Cenerentola (Cinderella); Deepa Johnny, Aaron Godfrey-Mayes, Charles Rice, Simon Bailey, David Ireland, Isabelle Peters, Grace Durham, director: Julia Burbach, conductor: Yi-Chen Li, English National Opera; London Coliseum
Reviewed 9 October 2025

A modern updating done with wit and imagination that still kept the focus on the two lovers, here played with great charm and stylistic brio in an engaging performance

Rossini's comic opera La Cenerentola (Cinderella) presents a number of challenges for modern opera companies. First off there is the obvious one, the finding of singers who can bring off the technical bravura that the roles require, thankfully there seems to be no shortage of Rossini stylists amongst young singers. Then there is the length, modern audiences do not expect comedy to last as long as tragedy, so performers and directors have to work hard to keep our attention.

Those first two comments apply generally to Rossini's comedies, but there is a particularity to La Cenerentola. First off, there is the eschewing of the fairy tale elements by Rossini and his librettist, along with British audiences fondness for the pantomime version. Frederick Ashton showed us how these various elements can live side by side in his brilliant ballet, and directors often tweak the role of Alidoro to make him something a little bit more. Another problem is that Rossini wrote only for male chorus. This was for a practical reason, Italian opera houses kept the male chorus on the books with the women being part time. The result is to make Ramiro's residence something of a bizarre boys club. There is also a homo-erotic theme in there somewhere, but I have yet to see a production that took that particular route.

Rossini: La Cenerentola (Cinderella) - Aaron Godfrey-Mayes - English National Opera (Photo: Mark Douet)

On Thursday 9 October 2025 we finally caught up with Julia Burbach's production of Rossini's La Cenerentola (Cinderella) for English National Opera at the London Coliseum. The conductor was Yi-Chen Li, set designs were by Herbert Murauer, costumes by Sussie Juhlin-Wallen, lighting by Malcolm Rippeth, video by Hayley Egan and choreography by Cameron McMillan. Canadian mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny was making her ENO debut as Cinderella, with tenor Aaron Godfrey-Mayes, a recent member of Hamburg opera studio, as Ramiro, Charles Rice (seen earlier this year in Buxton's Bernstein/Poulenc double bill, see my review) as Dandini, Simon Bailey (a notable Wotan in Dresden Music Festival's historically informed Die Walküre, see my review) as Don Magnifico, David Ireland as Alidoro and Isabelle Peters and Grace Durham as the sisters, Clorinda and Tisbe. The eighteen men of the chorus were joined by a team of six dancers including Sarah Storer as the ghost of Cinderella's mother, plus ten children.

Not so slight & surprisingly experimental: the Royal Opera & La Nuova Musica bring a touch of 1930s glamour to Handel's ugly duckling opera, Giustino

Handel: Giustino - Esme Bronwen-Smith, Polly Leech, Kelly Fuge, Mireille Asselin, Benjamin Hulett (with bag over his head) - La Nuova Musica at Royal Opera House (Photo: Marc Brenner)

Handel: Giustino; Polly Leech, Mireille Asselin, Keri Fuge, Esme Bronwen Smith, Jake Arditti, Benjamin Hulett, Jonathan Lemalu, director: Joe Hill-Gibbins, La Nuova Musica, conductor: David Bates; Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House
Reviewed 15 October 2025

The Royal Opera returns to late Handel with a production of his problematic Giustino that brings out the musical riches along with a surprising emotional depth, along with a touch of glamour

Handel's late operas have generally been regarded as problematic, with their recitative and plot cut to the bone. The Royal Opera's production of Arminio (from 1737) proved that in the right hands these fascinating if flawed pieces can work on the modern stage [see my review]. Now, in collaboration with La Nuova Musica, the Royal Opera has returned to 1737 with a production of Handel's Giustino.

The libretto was originally written for a 1683 opera by Legrenzi which received a spectacular production in Venice featuring an elephant, elaborate naval and land battles and a welter of smaller roles. By the time the libretto reached Vivaldi in 1724 the characters had been reduced to nine. This was the source of Handel's libretto, though Handel's unknown literary collaborator made radical changes.

1175 lines of recitative are reduced to just 350 and the character of Andronico is removed (Winton Dean speculates that Handel may simply not have had a singer for it). He is a third brother (to Giustino and Vitaliano) and spends a lot of the early part of the opera courting Leocasta. Not only are aspects of the plot positively telegraphic - Arianna goes to join Anastasio's army but after three lines of recitative and a short aria he has lost a battle, Arianna has been captured and Giustino needs to go to the rescue. But without Andronico, Leocasta is left with nothing to do for large stretches of the opera.

Handel: Giustino - Polly Leech, Mireille Asselin (as La Fortuna) - La Nuova Musica at Royal Opera House (Photo: Marc Brenner)

Not surprisingly, the opera has not had that many outings. It was presented by Alan Kitching in the UK in 1960s, and there is a recording from Göttingen in 1995 based on a production that Winton Dean describes as grossly distorting the opera. The London Handel Society presented it at Sadler's Wells in the early 1980s. If memory serves me right, James Bowman sang the title role and it was a remarkably imaginative production.

We caught Covent Garden's production at the Linbury Theatre on 15 October. Handel's Giustino was directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins with designs by Rosanna Vize. David Bates conducted La Nuova Musica with Polly Leech as Giustino, Keri Fuge as Anastasio, Mireille Asselin as Arianna, Esme Bronwen Smith as Leocasta, Jake Arditti as Amanzio, Benjamin Hulett as Vitaliano and Jonathan Lemalu as Polidarte.

Music for a video game must serve the players' actions: Olivier Deriviere talks about writing music for A Plague Tale: Requiem

Olivier Deriviere (Photo Alexandre Jeanson)

Olivier Deriviere is a French video game composer, best known for his work on Alone in the Dark, Obscure, Remember Me and Streets of Rage 4. His work on Get Even was nominated for a BAFTA in 2018 for Best Score. Most recently Olivier has written the score for A Plague Tale: Requiem, the sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019 also with music by Olivier), and it follows siblings Amicia and Hugo de Rune who must look for a cure for Hugo's blood disease in Southern France while fleeing from soldiers of the Inquisition and hordes of rats that are spreading the black plague. 

Olivier made his debut in the game industry with the soundtrack of Obscure (2004), since when he has devoted his career to writing music for games. 

He explains that despite apparent similarities to the outsider (I have to confess to not being a game player), writing music for video games is an entirely different form to writing for films (and he uses the analogy of different forms of classical music such as opera and symphonic music). Unlike in a film, music for a video game must serve the players' actions and this requires a very different mindset, something that Olivier feels is tricky. Over the last five years, Olivier has seen a more dedicated approach to the music for video games, it is now much more about serving the players, though of course composers borrow from movies and from classical composers. 

Olivier has so far only written music for video games, and when asked to write concert music he has declined. He thinks concert music is difficult to write and he treats the genre with respect, pointing out that with a symphony by Shostakovich you do not need anything but the music, and he is not sure he will ever feel ready to write concert music. When it comes to films, Olivier feels somewhat out of sync with the current trend for large-scale blockbuster films (he prefers the more artistic, personal films). For a blockbuster, the music isn't really about the people, and Olivier's music is very much about the personal, about inner feelings, and this is something he brings out in his video game music.

He very kindly explains his two-pronged approach to writing for video games.