Best concerts and opera in June
London's own opera festival opens at Opera Holland Park, Paddington Bear goes classical, and New Yorkers come to town
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Three exciting new productions dominate a season that is punctuated with revivals of three outstanding classic productions. Choose from Mozart's thrilling Don Giovanni, Poulenc's moving Dialogues des Carmelites or Handel's dramatic Semele. Or revisit the timeless Peter Hall production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress with David Hockney sets or Donizetti's fizzing comedy, L'Elisir d'Amore.
Read more ...Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5UU
Rigoletto, Opera Holland Park
At the elite but debauched court of Mantua, the duke plays fast and loose with the innocent adoration of his jester's daughter, Gilda, with tragic results. Alison Langer (photo: Victoria Cadisch) sings Gilda with Alessandro Scotto di Luzio as the duke and Stephen Gadd in the title role of Cecilia Stinton's new production of Verdi's opera, which opens this year's eagerly awaited Opera Holland Park season.
Read more ...Stable Yard, Holland Park, London , W8 6LU
Garsington Opera 2023
One of the companies Londoners love to see in action, and one that always punches above its weight. Garsington Opera, on the Getty estate at Wormsley, near High Wycombe, has three new productions and one excellent revival this year. To open, Rossini's sparkling The Barber of Seville, then an early Mozart gem, Mitridate Re di Ponto. After the huge success of his Garsington Der Rosenkavalier, Bruno Ravella returns to Richard Strauss for Ariadne auf Naxos, and returning is Smetana's The Bartered Bride in its highly-acclaimed, circus-skilled production (pictured).
Read more ...Wormsley Estate , Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire HP14 3YG
Il Trovatore, Royal Opera House
Witchcraft and supernatural happenings underpin Verdi's tragic opera in a new production directed by Adele Thomas, who has already done great work at Covent Garden in the Linbury Theatre, and who also makes her Glyndebourne directing debut this summer. Listen out for Last Night of the Proms barnstorming mezzo Jamie Barton (pictured) as the sinister Azucena, with Marina Rebeca and Riccardo Massi as ill-fated lovers Leonora and Manrico. Antonio Pappano, master of the Italian repertoire, conducts.
Read more ...Bow Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD
Paddington Bear's First Concert, Harmony's Music Club
Much-loved bear Paddington is a born performer. So where better than the Actors' Church, St Paul's Covent Garden, for Paddington's First Concert? The accident-prone arrival from Peru will be entertaining audiences aged 3 to 103 with his special take on classical music.
Read more ...Simon Rattle's free LSO Concert, Trafalgar Square
Grab a picnic and a rug, and head for Trafalgar Square for one of the happiest music events of the year. Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra perform live as the conductor prepares to leave for Germany. But it's French composers to the fore in this lively programme, which also includes music by modernist John Adams, and Russian rule-breaker Igor Stravinsky.
Read more ...Hansel and Gretel, Opera Holland Park
The ultimate family opera, but also a wise piece for older audiences. Hansel and Gretel are lost in the woods when they are sent out for food after spilling the milk, but the gingerbread house that would feed a hundred children is not what it seems. Englebert Humperdinck's opera gleams with melody and luscious musical effects. Charlotte Balham is Hansel and Laura Lolita Perešivana is Gretel, with Eleanor Dennis (pictured) as the Witch in John Wilkie's new production.
Read more ...Stable Yard, Holland Park, London, W8 6LU
Sir Simon Rattle's farewell concerts
No one wants to see Sir Simon Rattle (pictured) leave London and the London Symphony Orchestra, but take heart – Sir Antonio Pappano, currently music director at the Royal Opera, is going to step up to the podium soon. In the meantime, Sir Simon goes out with a bang (and he will be back from Munich from time to time) with a work he loves – Janáček's dramatic Turangilîla Symphony. So popular will this landmark event be there are two performances. But seats will go fast. Book yours now, to be part of London's musical story.
Read more ...Grange Park Opera 2023
With Wagner's Tristan and Isolde (six performances, 8 June to 9 July), Grange Park Opera opens a season of music inspired by doomed love. Also staged, Puccini's evergreen Tosca (seven performances 10 June to 5 July) and Massenet's Werther, with its struggle between passion and virtue (five performances, 17 June to 12 July). Take a picnic, and mingle in the Crinkle-Crinkle garden....
Read more ...West Horsley Place, West Horsley, Leatherhead, KT24 6AW
Werther, Royal Opera House
The USP of this revival of Massenet's romantic opera is the casting of rising soprano Aigul Akhmetshina opposite enduring German tenor Jonas Kaufmann (pictured). The pair play lovers separated by circumstance, then reunited, but at a great cost. And Sir Antonio Pappano conducts: with his last year at Covent Garden in sight, catch everything he does here, while you can.
Read more ...Bow Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD
Everest, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Barbican
Four climbers confront the summit of Mount Everest – and a life-or-death choice in Joby Talbot’s opera about the limits of human courage, and the unbreakable power of nature. In this semi-staged version, visual projections go into the eye of a raging storm as the edge-of-your-seat story unfolds. The BBCSO under Nicole Paiement is joined by the BBC Singers and soloists.
Read more ...The Met Orchestra and soloists, Barbican
A really showbiz-y end to the Barbican's classical music year with New York-based artists – the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House under their director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and soloists Joyce DiDonato (pictured), Angel Blue and Russell Thomas. Music inspired by the stage includes Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and Act IV of Verdi's Otello. Pure razzle-dazzle.
Read more ...