Welcome to BBC Music Magazine’s guide to concerts in the UK and Ireland.
To find a concert simply fill in one or more boxes and click search. If you’d like to add an event to the diary, click here or go to www.concertdiary.com
We have held fortnightly lunch-time concerts on Thursdays at St John’s since 1975.
There are concerts on alternate Thursdays from September to early July, so there are about 20 each year. Sometimes there is a three or four week gap at Christmas or Easter.
Tea, coffee and sandwiches etc. are available from 11.45am and the concert begins at 12.30pm. There is usually an interval and the concert finishes about 1.45pm or 2pm.
A selection of light classics to jazz.
A nine year old Mozart wrote in a dedication to Queen Charlotte: Let me live, and one day I will offer...a gift...that will equal the glory of all the great men of my country, I will become as immortal as Handel and Hasse, and my name will be as famous as that of [JC] Bach. A programme of exquisite arias from these masters of the age.
Così fan tutte is a comedy where nothing is quite as it seems and trust, deception, loyalty and desire are never far below the surface. Beginning with a seemingly harmless bet, the sly old cynic Don Alfonso wagers that the fiancées of two young men will not stay faithful if put to the test. The men take the bet, confident of their lovers’ fidelity, but cruelty is inherent in this game of love and chance, and Don Alfonso has a darker purpose.
Così fan tutte is conducted by Andrew Parrott, directed by Tim Albery, set and costumes designed by Tobias Hoheisel and lighting designed by David Finn.
Berlioz frequently turned to Shakespeare for inspiration, and in Béatrice et Bénédict produced a delightful and sensuous score based on Much Ado About Nothing. The overture contains some of his most beautifully crafted and elegant music.
Scriabin’s Piano Concerto is a virtuosic work of unabashed Romanticism. Its Chopinesque charm and filigree fingerwork hide the fact that it is a highly technically demanding work, full of chromaticism and syncopation.
Tchaikovsky found himself briefly free from the catalogue of personal crises in the late 1880s, and his Fifth Symphony reflects this with moments of comfort and warmth. Dazzling shafts of bright optimism are cast like lightning bolts from the brooding orchestral shadows.
It may happen once a season or once in a lifetime. Along comes a talent, someone extraordinary that makes you rethink a piece of music you’ve known forever. It happened with Peter Jablonski. - The Washington Post.
Presented in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute in London, which is kindly providing and supporting a number of distinguished Polish musicians taking part in this special series of concerts.
Series discounts are available. Book 3 or more concerts and receive a 10% discount. Book 6 or more concerts and receive a 20% discount. Please call on 020 7520 1490 for further information.
Find out what's in this month's magazine...
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet's latest musical adventure takes him back to 1920s New York to perform and record Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in its original jazz-band incarnation. Click here to find out more.
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Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances; The Isle of the Dead; The Rock
Royal Liverpool PO/Vasily Petrenko
'Vasily Petrenko's nose for atmosphere even excels that of Neeme Järvi'
Shostakovich • Schnittke:
Piano Trios
Kempf Trio
'This is the first CD to show Schnittke truly on a level with Shostakovich'
Mahler: Lieder recital
Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Gerold Huber (piano)
'Christian Gerhaher presents a masterful programme of Mahler song'
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Valencia Community Orchestra/Zubin Mehta
'This is the most exciting staging of Wagner's Ring cycle I have seen'
Takemitsu: Complete works for solo piano
Paul Crossley (piano)
'Paul Crossley seems an ideal interpreter of Takemitsu's music'
Spiritual Dimensions
Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet)
'Wadada Leo Smith's music is both invigorating and enjoyable'
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 24 & 25
Valerie Tryon (piano); London Symphony Orchestra/Robert Trory
'Valerie Tryon is extremely impressive in Mozart's concertos'
Wagner: Arias and duets from Lohengrin, Tannhäuser & Die Walküre
Petra Maria Schnitzer (soprano), Peter Seiffert (tenor)
'Seiffert and Schnitzer are among today's finest Wagnerians'
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