Best Concerts and Opera in October
An opera for babies, Russian music for families, and concert hall favourites by Gershwin and Shostakovich, plus all things piano
Peter Grimes, English National Opera
Outstanding revival of a fine production of Benjamin Britten's powerful opera, set on the Suffolk coast. Loss throbs through the storyline like the pulse of the waves which are its backdrop. A boy has died. Love is thwarted. Another boy dies. Gwyn Hughes Jones (pictured) takes the title role of a loner misfit fisherman, with Elizabeth Llewellyn as the only person who cares for him.
Read more ...Picture a day like this, Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre
In this modern fable, a woman who has lost her little son searches for a happy person, in order to revive him. But the promising individuals she encounters all have sorrows of their own. A haunting short opera by composer George Benjamin and writer Martin Crimp.
Read more ...London Piano Festival, Kings Place
The annual London Piano Festival continues to explore the instrument's endless possibilities, this year focusing on the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Rachmaninov and the centenary of Hungarian polymath and composer György Ligeti. Artists include festival founders Katya Apekisheva & Charles Owen, and a winner of the prestigious US Van Cliburn competition, Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko (pictured).
Read more ...Iolanthe, English National Opera
Cal McCrystal's fun-filled production of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, set in a sylvan wood and the House of Lords, brought a new generation to the Victorian satire, five years ago. Expect topical swipes at today's politics with this revival, which is sure to raise much-needed smiles.
Read more ...Half Six Fix: the LSO plays Beethoven's 7th
This early evening one-hour concert by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by its incoming music director Sir Antonio Pappano (pictured), features Beethoven's Symphony No 7. The piece is introduced and unpacked before a complete play-through. These Half Six Fix concerts are little treasures that fit into the working day or day out. If this one whets your appetite, the symphony is played again in a full-length concert on 12 Oct.
Read more ...Rigoletto, Royal Opera House
Oliver Mears' 2021 production of Verdi's tragic opera emphasises the lavish lifestyle of the Duke of Mantua, who toys with the innocent daughter of his entertainer. Two casts sing across 13 performances. Look out for soprano Pretty Yende (pictured) as Gilda in early performances, and for baritone Simon Keenlyside in the title role from 13 Nov.
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Under the Little Red Moon, English Touring Opera
An opera for babies! It's not often the audience age range is 6 to 24 months, but it's never too early to get your babes in arms and toddlers turned on to this all-encompassing art form. The terrifically flexible ETO join Lulu, Monty and their friend Tom on an adventure for tots. Staged at various venues, including the Half Moon Theatre and Polk Dot Theatre, Wimbledon.
Read more ...Rhapsody in Blue, Philharmonia Orchestra
Marin Alsop (pictured) and the Philharmonia are joined by the Marcus Roberts Trio for an all-American programme, featuring the George Gershwin's jazzy Rhapsody in Blue. Also played, Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Joan Towers' answering Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, three dances from Leonard Bernstein's On the Town, and more. In short, New York on Thames.
Read more ...The Rite of Spring, BBC Symphony Orchestra
If you missed Aurora Orchestra's scintillating performance of Stravinsky's masterpiece played from memory at the Proms, or if you can't get enough of this savage music, here's another chance to hear why The Rite of Spring caused a sensation in 1913. Plus: recorder virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf (pictured) in Anna Meredith's Origami Songs, and UK premieres of Ison II by Stefan Niculescu and of Arvo Pärt's Perpetum Mobile.
Read more ...Shostakovich's 8th, London Philharmonic Orchestra
The great Eighth Symphony of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich was banned by the Russian authorities, and this musical protest still boils with defiance. Karina Canellakis (pictured) conducts the LPO, who are joined by soloist Jonathan Biss for Beethoven's daring Piano Concerto No 2.
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