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Classical Concerts in London UK A selection of forthcoming live music |
Look ahead: May
June
July
August
September
October
| 23 April 2019 | |
| 1pm St Martin-in-the-Fields Trafalgar Square London WC2N 4JJ United Kingdom Details: Web site | Jelena Makarova |
| 27 April 2019 | |
| 7.30pm St James's, Piccadilly Piccadilly London W1J 9LL United Kingdom Details: John Biggins Web site +44 (0)7976 629435 £18, 16 | Bach: B minor Mass Augusta Hebbert, soprano Philippa Hyde, soprano Ben Williamson, alto Nathan Vale, tenor Richard Latham, bass Collegium Musicum of London Chamber Choir Greg Morris, conductor Bach: B minor Mass A cornerstone of the choral repertoire, Bach’s magnificent Mass in B minor was one of the composer’s last works, completed in 1749. The Mass gave new life to vocal music that Bach had composed throughout his career. Despite its sheer scale and grandeur, Bach didn’t even name the work, and it existed only as a collection of loosely related manuscripts for many years, until it was performed in a single sitting for the first time in 1859, more than a century after the composer’s death. The Mass is now considered by many to be the true culmination of his life’s work. St James’s, Piccadilly, provides an elegant backdrop to Collegium Musicum of London’s springtime concert. The choir is joined by a host of exceptional soloists and Baroque instrumentalists for this performance of what is perhaps Bach’s most profound and heartfelt work. |
| 3 May 2019 | |
| 7.30pm St James' Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL United Kingdom Details: City Music Productions Web site +44 (0)333 666 3366 £15, 22, 28 | Piccadilly Chamber Music Series: The Great Romantics [3] Martyn Jackson, violin Rowena Calvert, cello Warren Mailley-Smith, piano Beethoven: Piano Trio No 3, Op 1 No 3 in C minor Chick Corea: Addendum Schubert: Piano Trio No 1 in B flat, D 898 Chamber music series. focusing on ‘The Great Romantics’. Featuring Beethoven, Schubert and Chick Corea. |
| 11 May 2019 | |
| 7.30pm St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL United Kingdom Details: Web site £15-32 | Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by Candlelight The Piccadilly Sinfonietta Ciaran McCabe, violin Warren Mailley-Smith, piano Mozart: Divertimento in D, K 136 Mozart: Piano Concerto in D minor, K 466 Vivaldi: The Four Seasons An evening of Mozart and Vivaldi chamber music by candelight. Celebrate the end of the week with The Piccadilly Sinfonietta, an exciting new orchestra featuring some of the UK’s most outstanding young professional musicians, led by the sensational violinist Ciaran McCabe. This dynamic ensemble presents a programme of some of the greatest classical music ever written including Vivaldi’s masterpiece, “The Four Seasons” in the beautiful surroundings of St James’ Church, in the heart of London’s West End by the evocative glow of candlelight. This special concert also features exceptional British pianist Warren Mailley-Smith, who has developed a large following across the UK thanks to his effortless technique and charismatic charm. One of his most extraordinary achievements is performing the complete solo works (3.5 million notes) of Frederick Chopin from memory. Mailley-Smith has performed for the Royal Family on many occasions, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall and the Wigmore Hall and has been featured as Classic FM's CD of the Week. Press quote: “Stunning” Classic FM. Tickets: £32, £28, £20 & £15 Online: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/627161 Box office: 0333 666 3366 (Mondays to Fridays, 9.00AM to 7.00PM) On the door. |
| 18 May 2019 | |
| 7.30pm St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL United Kingdom Details: Web site | An evening of sublime piano music by Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt |
| 11 May 2019 until 19 May 2019 | |
| London United Kingdom Details: Web site | London Festival of Contemporary Church Music The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music was founded in 2002 with the aim of showcasing contemporary liturgical music in both service and concert. Based at St Pancras Parish Church, London, the LFCCM has grown to include more than 70 events in venues across London and beyond, dozens of composers, hundreds of performers and thousands of audience members, both live and online, showcasing the very best in contemporary liturgical music for choir and organ. |
| 21 May 2019 | |
| 7.30pm Milton Court Concert Hall Milton Court, Silk Street London EC2Y 9BH United Kingdom Details: Barbican Box Office Web site +44 (0)20 7638 8891 £15-35 | Britten Sinfonia - Beethoven Symphony Cycle (Nos 7 and 8) Britten Sinfonia Thomas Adès, conductor Beethoven: Symphony No 7 Gerald Barry: Dead March Beethoven: Symphony No 8 A game of musical chairs plus a short but inventive symphony all bought together with a jubilant and joyous close: Britten Sinfonia’s Beethoven Cycle continues with Symphonies Nos 7 and 8. Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia continue their journey through Beethoven’s symphonies with the brief, brilliantly inventive Symphony No 7 and the jubilant Eighth. Irish composer (and Beethoven devotee) Gerald Barry draws on melodies that he loves in Dead March, then allows them to behave as if 'everything is possible'. |
| 26 May 2019 | |
| 7.30pm Milton Court Concert Hall Milton Court, Silk Street London EC2Y 9BH United Kingdom Details: Barbican Box Office Web site +44 (0)20 7638 8891 £15-35 | Britten Sinfonia - Beethoven Symphony Cycle (No. 9) Claudia Boyle, soprano Britten Sinfonia Voices Eamonn Dougan, Britten Sinfonia Voices director Britten Sinfonia Thomas Adès, conductor Gerald Barry: The Eternal Recurrence Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (choral) Britten Sinfonia’s Beethoven Symphony Cycle, conducted by Thomas Adès, concludes with Beethoven’s mighty ‘choral’ symphony and Gerald Barry’s feverish The Eternal Recurrence. Beethoven’s extraordinary Ninth Symphony is regarded by many as the finest of all symphonies, and its message of humanity, perhaps most famously encapsulated in the symphony’s Ode to Joy chorus, continues to resonate today (not least, as the anthem for the European Union). Here, Beethoven’s masterful celebration of the human race is paired with Gerald Barry’s The Eternal Recurrence, a brilliant, feverish setting of texts from Nietzsche’s philosophical novel Also sprach Zarathustra. |
| 28 May 2019 | |
| 7pm Gresham Centre St Anne & St Agnes Church, Gresham St London EC2V 7BX United Kingdom Details: Web site Free - all welcome | Top US Choir Strike The Right Note in the Heart of London Morgan State University Choir Eric Conway, director Baltimore-based Morgan State University Choir heads to the UK in May, with a concert at the stunning church of St Anne and St Agnes on 28 May. Previously, this top collegiate gospel choir were invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to perform at The White House for a televised music special, ‘Music in the Gospel Tradition’. The choir supported Aretha Franklin, who together sang in front of President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. The evening will be a wonderful mix of spiritual classics alongside arrangements of iconic songs by The Beatles, including ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Let It Be’, in addition to excerpts from Gershwin’s ‘Porgy & Bess’ and Bernstein’s ‘Mass’. |
| 29 May 2019 | |
| 1.10pm St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL United Kingdom Details: Web site | Park Lane Group Free Lunchtime Concert - Dominic Degavino, piano - Liszt, McCabe and Beethoven |
| 8 June 2019 | |
| 7.30pm Milton Court Concert Hall Milton Court, Silk Street London EC2Y 9BH United Kingdom Details: Barbican Box Office Web site +44 (0)20 7638 8891 £15-40 | Britten Sinfonia - Donizetti's Il Paria with Opera Rara Albina Shagimuratova, soprano Opera Rara Chorus Britten Sinfonia Mark Elder, conductor Donizetti: Il Paria A rare chance to hear Il Paria, one of Donizetti’s most innovative and daring scores, conducted by Sir Mark Elder with Britten Sinfonia. Opera Rara is known internationally for bringing rare and neglected operas vividly back to life. Working in partnership with Britten Sinfonia, and featuring acclaimed Russian coloratura soprano Albina Shagimuratova, Opera Rara present Donizetti’s Il Paria, a work that brings a new exotic colour to Italian opera of the period, inspired by its setting in ancient India. |
| 13 June 2019 | |
| 7pm St Mary Aldermary Watling Street London EC4M 9BW United Kingdom Details: Web site £15, concessions 10, available online or at the door | Garden of Delights Orlando Chamber Choir Lucy Goddard, director De Machaut: Rose, liz, printemps, verdure Des Prez: El grillo Van Weerbeke: O Maria, clausus hortus Isaac: Hora e di maggio Isaac: Ich stund an einem Morgen Brumel: Sicut lilium inter spinas Janequin: Le chant des oiseaux Gombert: Diversi diversa orant - Salve Regina De Rore: Descendi in hortum meum Clemens non Papa: Ego flos campi Di Lasso: Veni in hortum meum Di Lasso: Veni dilecte mi Wheeler: The Lake Isle of Innisfree Wheeler: The Winter it is Past Orlando Chamber Choir presents an all-sensory summer concert with the fragrance of flowers and the sound of Franco-Flemish Renaissance gardens. Our musical plantsmen include Antoine Brumel, Jacobus Clemens non Papa, Cipriano de Rore and Orlando di Lasso, all of whom captured melodies from the biblical gardens of the Song of Songs. There will be secular flora too – polyphony about roses, lilies, vines and other greenery – with Josquin des Prez’ well-known cricket hiding amidst the leaves. Clément Janequin adds birdsong to this musical garden, with singers mimicking starlings, blackbirds and the occasional nightingale. To root this oasis in today’s Central London, we have seeded two contemporary garden-inspired compositions by Janet Wheeler, ready to bloom on the concert day. Orlando’s Garden of Delights is open from 19:00 and, to cater for all senses, will conclude with a communal picnic. |
| 4 June 2019 until 22 June 2019 | |
| 7.30pm Opera Holland Park Theatre Opera Holland Park Theatre, Ilchester Place London W8 6LU United Kingdom Details: Web site | Puccini: Manon Lescaut OHP Chorus Opera Holland Park City Of London Sinfonia |
| 28 June 2019 | |
| 7.30pm St James' Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL United Kingdom Details: Web site | Piccadilly Sonfonietta The Piccadilly Sonfonietta and two distinguished soloists play Handel, Bach and Vivaldi. |
| 28 November 2019 | |
| 1.05pm St Bartholomew the Great West Smithfield London EC1A 7BE United Kingdom Details: Web site | James Kreiling, piano To include: McCabe: Tenebrae City Music Society |