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Classical Music

Best concerts and opera in August

By Claudia Pritchard on 28/7/2023

An exciting new opera, unmissable Proms, and a Gilbert and Sullivan to lighten the mood

Jonathan Dove's new opera Itch, at Opera Holland Park: Photo: Jake Wiltshire

Itch, Opera Holland Park

Jonathan Dove's new opera, based on books by Simon Mayo, is an exciting ride through the periodic table, as schoolboy Itch aims to gather an example of every element. When a new element emerges, there is a race to monetise it, and a battle for survival between Nature and big business. Highly recommended.

WHEN

22 Jul 2023 – 04 Aug 2023, Four evening performances remaining; one at 2PM, Sun 30 July

WHERE

Opera Holland Park
Stable Yard, Holland Park, London , W8 6LU

Joèlle Harvey as Semele admires herself in Handel's opera © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

Semele, Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Handel set to music the story of mortal Semele who hopes for immortality through an affair with Jove. Adele Thomas's new production shows why she would want to escape her claustrophobic earthly life. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment bring the score to life.

WHEN

23 Jul 2023 – 26 Aug 2023, 11 performances remaining. Running time c 5hr, including two one-hour dinner intervals

WHERE

Glyndebourne
Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5UU

Summer at Snape, Aldeburgh

Escape to the coast and to ravishing countryside, and get immersed in world-class music with this month-long Suffolk-based festival. Artists include saxophonist Jess Gillam, and singers Danielle de Niese and Jacqui Dankworth (pictured). The King's Singers with Fretwork, Southbank Sinfonia and BBC Concert Orchestra are among the ensembles, and the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra close the six-week festival, which also features yoga, a family concert (20 Aug) and children's activities.

WHEN

Mon 24 July to Sat 2 Sept 2023

WHERE

Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape Bridge, Snape IP17 1SP

Prom 22: Isata Kanneh-Mason plays xxxxxx

Prom 22: Isata Kanneh-Mason plays Prokofiev

A marvellous programme for younger music-lovers, with just two exciting pieces. Isata Kanneh-Mason (pictured) is the soloist in Prokofiev's entertaining Piano Concerto No 3. Then Ryan Bancroft conducts the fantastic BBC National Orchestra of Wales, whose annual Proms visits are always an event, in Tchaikovsky's action-packed Symphony No 5. Perfect for a school holiday night out.

WHEN

Tues 1 Aug 2023, 7PM (note early start time)

WHERE

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, South Kensington, London SW7 2AP; and on BBC Sounds

Prom 30: Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2

John Wilson's annual appearance at the Proms with his Sinfonia of London is always a special occasion that breathes new life into well-known works. Benjamin Grosvenor (pictured) is the soloist in Rachmaninov's romantic Piano Concerto No 2 (the Brief Encounter one). The evening opens with Lili Boulanger's picturesque D'un Matin de Printemps and closes with the Symphony No 1 by English composer William Walton.

WHEN

Sun 6 Aug 2023, 7:30PM

WHERE

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, South Kensington, London SW7 2AP; and on BBC Sounds

HMS Pinafore, Charles Court Opera, Opera Holland Park

Ruddigore, Charles Court Opera, Opera Holland Park

The very talented John Savournin (pictured) directs and appears in another refreshing new staging of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, bringing to an end the fine Opera Holland Park summer season. In Ruddigore, the satirists lampoon the etiquette books beloved of their upright Victorian society, and its obsession with the supernatural.

WHEN

Wed 9 to Sat 12 Aug 2023, five performances

WHERE

Opera Holland Park
Stable Yard, Holland Park, London W8 6LU

Prom 37: Budapest Festival Orchestra

This distinguished Hungarian orchestra under Iván Fischer is joined by the outstanding pianist Sir András Schiff (pictured) for the very beautiful Schumann Piano Concerto, before the Symphony No 3 inspired by Felix Mendelssohn's travels, the Scottish. You can be sure of a stirring encore...

WHEN

Sat 12 Aug 2023, 7:30PM

WHERE

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, South Kensington, London SW7 2AP; and on BBC Sounds

Prom 44: Stravinsky's The Firebird

In a season bookended for the first time by women conductors, the Proms debut tonight by New Zealander Gemma New (pictured) is another step forward. Canadian-born, Berlin-based composer Samy Moussa's Symphony No 2 gets its European premiere before Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No 2 with the brilliant young Pavel Kolesnikov and Stravinsky's colourful ballet music The Firebird.

WHEN

Fri 18 Aug 2023, 7:30PM

WHERE

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, South Kensington, London SW7 2AP; and on BBC Sounds

Prom 56: Rattle conducts Mahler 9

Say a London farewell to Sir Simon Rattle (pictured) as he leaves the London Symphony Orchestra as music director and heads for Germany. In a poignant last concert in his current role, and after a game-changing tenure, Rattle conducts Mahler's valedictory Symphony No 9, with the BBC Singers joining the LSO. In the first half, Poulenc's post-war cantata, Figure Humaine.

WHEN

Sun 27 Aug 2023, 7:30PM

Prom 60: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

Making its Proms debut, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of Europe's great orchestras, and here it play Rachmaninov's dramatic Symphony No 3 under Vladimir Jurowski (pictured). Kirill Gerstein is the soloist in Thomas Adès's Piano Concerto, with music by Kurt Weill to start. This promises to be a spectacular evening

WHEN

Thurs 31 Aug 2023, 7:30PM

WHERE

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e4h5q9

Best concerts and opera in August

An exciting new opera, unmissable Proms, and a Gilbert and Sullivan to lighten the mood

Itch, Opera Holland Park

Semele, Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Summer at Snape, Aldeburgh

Prom 22: Isata Kanneh-Mason plays Prokofiev

Prom 30: Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2

Ruddigore, Charles Court Opera, Opera Holland Park

Prom 37: Budapest Festival Orchestra

Prom 44: Stravinsky's The Firebird

Prom 56: Rattle conducts Mahler 9

Prom 60: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

Royal Albert Hall

BBC Proms

Opera Holland Park

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Simon Rattle

Isata Kanneh-Mason

ENO's Gilbert and Sullivan Walking Tour

La Bohème, Opera Holland Park review ★★★★★

English National Opera 2023/24: a starry showcase

The 12 best BBC Proms 2023: passion and innovation

Opera at Covent Garden 2023/24: Royal Opera season in full

Summer country house opera: a survivor's guide