Best Easter music: London concerts and opera to uplift and inspire
The Easter story told in song, JS Bach and Handel's Messiah, performed by top artists and streamed from London churches and concert halls
Tenebrae sing Bach, St John Smith Square
For consolation and encouragement, perhaps no composer outdoes JS Bach. As part of St John Smith Square's Easter Festival, meticulous vocal ensemble Tenebrae sing short pieces of sacred music and violinist Lana Trotovsek is the violin soloists in soaring instrumental works.
Read more ...Bach's St John Passion, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Filmed at Battersea Arts Centre with visual effects and narration by Nakhane, an expansive reading of the Passion story from top musicians. Tenor Mark Padmore sings the role of Evangelist and directs the performance. Soloists include Gerald Finley as Christus, Neal Davies as Pilate, with other arias and chorales from Rowan Pierce, Bathany Horak Hallett, Hugo Hymas. OAE leader Margaret Faultless and dynamic keyboard player Steven Devine drive the urgent score.
Read more ...Bach's St Matthew Passion, Amici Voices
Believers and non-believers alike find hope and consolation in this dramatic retelling in music of the Easter story. Amici Voices are joined by soloists including the tenor Nick Pritchard in a work loved for both its thrilling music and its humanity.
Read more ...Messiah, English National Opera, BBC Two
A power-packed performance of Handel's masterpiece comes from the Coliseum. Filmed for a television audience, the one-hour performance will be brought to life by ENO's creative teams, guests soloists, chorus and orchestra, making full use of the Coliseum's
Read more ...Bach's St John Passion, English Touring Opera
ETO's profound and intense interpretation of Bach's Easter story in music moved and excited audiences at Temple Church in 2018 and again at Hackney Empire in 2020. This free streaming revisits a Hackney performance of this highly personal piece, articulating the highs and lows of faith, loss and recovery. A 15-minute talk about the work, and a 10-minute documentary preface the 4.10PM performance.
Read more ...Orpheus Sinfonia, Synergy Series, Wallace Collection online
Second in the Synergy Series of concerts in which music and visual art meet in perfect harmony at the Wallace Collection. Orpheus Sinfonia and gallery director Xavier Bray turn to the Wallace Collection's fizzing Rococo treasures, including Fragonard’s The Swing and spectacular Meissen vases, with similarly ornate music by Rameau, Couperin and Gluck.
Read more ...Messiah Reimagined, London Handel Festival
With musical ingenuity, live and virtual singing combine in this performance of Handel's fine oratorio, telling the Easter story, Messiah. Laurence Cummings directs an 'off-stage' choir, the London Handel Orchestra and soloists Lucy Crowe, Edward Grint and Iestyn Davies (pictured). Learn more about how London Handel Festival's contribution to the St John Smith Square Easter Festival was achieved here.
Read more ...Messiah, St Martin in the Fields
With audio-visual effects inspired by the beautiful east window of the church on Trafalgar Square, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, St Martin’s Voices, and Nina Dunn Studio bring Handel’s masterpiece oratorio to life. The soloists are Carolyn Sampson (soprano), James Way (tenor) and Benson Wilson (baritone). Part of the Fresh Horizons season of concerts streamed from St Martin in the Fields.
Read more ...Handel's La Resurrezione
Completing the Easter story, a surprisingly colourful, 90-minute account of the Resurrection by Handel. His lively music underpins characters who are credible witnesses to an extraordinary event. Soloists include bass Brindley Sherratt, counter-tenor Lawrence Zazzo, and sopranos Lucy Crowe and Danielle de Niese (pictured). SKY ARTS filmed the English Concert under Harry Bickett at St John Smith Square.
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