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Classical Music

Best Concerts and Opera in October

By Claudia Pritchard on 15/9/2022

The arrival of autumn in music, two 50th anniversary concerts, and an exciting debut

Angel Blue sings the title role in Aida in 2023

Aïda, Royal Opera House

Its premiere was not in fashionable Paris or Milan, but Cairo. It sometimes comes with live elephants. Its great choruses feel like the epitome of grand opera. No wonder Verdi's Aïda conjures up spectacle and glamour. But at the heart of this famous opera is a battle between love and duty. Angel Blue (pictured) is among artists singing the title role as the Ethiopian princess in love with her captor,

WHEN

25 Sep 2022 – 01 Jun 2023, Seven performances 25 Sept to 12 Oct; nine performances 25 May to 1 June. Start times vary. Running time c 3hr

WHERE

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

Tosca, English National Opera

From its terrifying opening chords to its shock ending, Puccini's opera is a thrilling drama in music. And a new production for English National Opera is bursting with promise. Director Christof Loy's production has already been acclaimed in Helsinki, and finally reaches London, with a strong cast, opening ENO's 2022/23 season.

WHEN

Fri 30 Sep 2022 – Fri 04 Nov 2022, 13 performances. Start times vary; running time 2hr 40min including interval

WHERE

English National Opera
London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4ES

The Seasons, Barbican

As summer gives way to autumn, music specialists the Academy of Ancient Music mark the step with a performance of Haydn's buoyant oratorio, marking the turning of the years. The rapturous music is enhanced by digital projections from Nina Dunn's Studio. Soloists include soprano Sophie Bevan (pictured), and the conductor is Laurence Cummings.

WHEN

Tues 4 Oct 2022, 7:30PM-10:15PM, with one interval

WHERE

Barbican Hall, Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DS

London Piano Festival, Kings Place

The seventh annual London Piano Festival continues to explore the instrument's endless possibilities, with four concerts and a lecture recital inspired by the virtuosic Franz Liszt. To open, a delectable programme of music by JS Bach, the daring 17th-century French composer Rameau, and the the visionary modernist Olivier Messiaen played by Tamara Stefanovich (6 Oct). Also on offer, Imogen Cooper playing Schubert (7 Oct) and festival co-founder Katya Apekisheva playing Debussy and Shostakovich with Noriko Ogawa (pictured, 8 Oct). Enthralling.

WHEN

Thurs 6 Oct to Sun 9 Oct 2022. Five events, times vary

WHERE

Kings Place, York Way, London N1 9AG

Handel the Cosmopolitan, St Martin in the Fields

Born in Germany, trained in Italy, a British citizen and at home in London, George Frideric Handel bestrode the world of music and captivated his adopted city. Tenor James Way and his consort The Assembled Company, with soprano Rowan Pierce and violinist Rachel Podger, retrace some of the great music that took European audiences by storm. Among the items, two Italian cantatas with music that reappeared in his much-loved Messiah.

WHEN

Sat 8 Oct 2022, 7:30PM-9PM

WHERE

St Martin in the Fields,Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ

Isata Kanneh-Mason, Barbican

The gifted young pianist is already an impressive ambassador for music composed by women, including Clara Schumann. Here, in a programme of music inspired by childhood, she makes her Barbican debut with works by Fanny Mendelssohn and Eleanor Alberga, as well as Mozart, Robert Schumann and Claude Debussy.

WHEN

Mon 10 Oct 2022, 7:30PM

WHERE

Barbican Hall, Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DS

La Bohème, Royal Opera House

Richard Jones's production of Puccini's Paris-based opera entertains with its Quality Street colours and comically awkward attic, the chilly home of impoverished artists. Romance blossoms in the cold and dark, but falters until it is too late to make amends. Choose from several casts over 17 performances, and artists including tenors Freddie De Tommaso, Juan Diego Flórez and soprano Danielle de Niese (pictured).

WHEN

Fri 14 Oct to Thurs 17 Oct 2022. 17 performances, times vary

WHERE

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

Ungrievable Lives, Wigmore Hall

A really moving and important new commission by Charlotte Bray accompanies an exhibition of work by Caroline Burraway honouring those who risk their lives to reach a safer country. The artist has made 13 child's dresses from discarded lifejackets (pictured), and the Castalian String Quartet gives the world premiere of Bray's Ungrievable Lives, in 13 movements – one for every million displaced children. Also on the programme, music by Britten and Sibelius.

WHEN

Fri 21 Oct 2022, 7:30PM. Live-streamed at 8PM and available for 90 days

WHERE

Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore St, London W1U 2BP

English Chamber Choir 50th anniversary concert, Cadogan Hall

One of London's most versatile choirs, the ECC is as likely to be heard singing film scores for screenings with live music at the Royal Albert Hall or backing Rick Wakeman as interpreting sacred music from past centuries. To celebrate its first 50 years, under conductor Guy Protheroe, the choir, with the English Players, sings two favourite mainstays of the choral repertoire: Bach's exuberant Magnificat and Handel's joyful Dixit Dominus. Soloists include soprano Julia Doyle and bass Philip Tebb.

WHEN

Mon 24 Oct 2022, 7:30PM

WHERE

Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

Brodsky Quartet plays Shostakovich, Kings Place

The playing and outlook of the Brodsky Quartet (pictured) is so youthful it is hard to believe that this highly entertaining ensemble is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Over a single weekend, the four musicians play all 15 of Shostakovich's colourful string quartets. Catch them all, or opt for the drama of, say, Quartet No 8 (Sat 29 Oct, 7PM).

WHEN

Sat 29 Oct to Sun 30 Oct 2022. Seven events plus a lecture, times vary

WHERE

Kings Place, York Way, London N1 9AG

Philharmonia plays Prokofiev, Wagner and Sibelius

See exciting new Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund (pictured) make her London debut with three mighty pieces. After Prokofiev's jaunty Classical Symphony No1 the orchestra is joined by soloist Truls Mørk, Berglund's teacher, for the same composer's Sinfonia Concertante in E minor for Cello and Orchestra. Before the Symphony No 7 by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, the surging Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Berglund is described as 'one of Europe’s greatest promises'. An afternoon concert to introduce daughters to the idea of conducting, maybe....

WHEN

Sun 30 Oct 2022, 3PM

WHERE

Royal Festival Hall
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

Best Concerts and Opera in October

The arrival of autumn in music, two 50th anniversary concerts, and an exciting debut

Aïda, Royal Opera House

Tosca, English National Opera

The Seasons, Barbican

London Piano Festival, Kings Place

Handel the Cosmopolitan, St Martin in the Fields

Isata Kanneh-Mason, Barbican

La Bohème, Royal Opera House

Ungrievable Lives, Wigmore Hall

English Chamber Choir 50th anniversary concert, Cadogan Hall

Brodsky Quartet plays Shostakovich, Kings Place

Philharmonia plays Prokofiev, Wagner and Sibelius

Royal Opera House

Philharmonia

Freddie De Tommaso

Brodsky Quartet

Shostakovich

Sibelius

Handel

The Queen and London's arts scene

Best concerts and opera in September

The Yeomen of the Guard, English National Opera review ★★★★★

London Chamber Orchestra tea concerts, 116 Pall Mall

Joyce DiDonato: Carmen in Concert, Royal Albert Hall

Opera Holland Park 2023