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Classical Music

Best concerts and opera in September

By Claudia Pritchard on 25/8/2022

London's finest orchestras launch their 2022/23 seasons in style, and in the opera houses there are four great classics, including an exciting new production of a Puccini nail-biter

Proms and ENO at Printworks

A real Proms highlight as this year's festival draws to an end. The phenomenal American counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (pictured in English National Opera's Akhnaten) is joined by the ENO Orchestra under Karen Kamensek for a thrilling programme of music by US minimalist Philip Glass and by the great operatic composer Handel. Live art, choreography and beatbox thread through this mesmerising programme.

WHEN

Sat 3 Sept 2022, 3PM-4:15PM & 8PM-9:15PM, and live on Radio 3

WHERE

Printworks, Surrey Quays Road, Rotherhithe, London SE16 7PJ

Prom 65: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

A red-letter day for the Proms: the world-class Berlin Phil gives the second of two concerts featuring German viola player Tabea Zimmermann (pictured) as soloist in the exciting Schnittke Viola Concerto. After the interval, Shostakovich's four-movement Symphony No 10. Listen out for the meaningful Scherzo, which the composer described as a portrait of Stalin.

WHEN

Sun 4 Sept 2022, 7:30PM-9:40PM, and live on Radio 3

WHERE

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP

Erwin Schrott is a marked man in Don Giovanni at Covent Garden. Photo: Mark Douet

Don Giovanni, Royal Opera House

The names scrawled across the set and the characters of Mozart's Don Giovanni in Kasper Holten's production are of the many women seduced by the insatiable aristocrat. As the Royal Opera House launches its 2022/23 season, the immoral nobleman is at it again.... But the sublime music and some promising casting win us over every time.

WHEN

Thurs 8 Sept to Mon 26 Sept 2022. Six performances, start times vary

WHERE

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

New Music Britain, London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Simon Rattle (pictured) conducts the LSO as it launches its 2022/23 season with the best of British music, including Elgar's soaring Symphony No 2, a sweeping piece in the European tradition. Sun Poem by Daniel Kidane and Frank Bridge's Enter Spring celebrate the natural world in very different ways.

WHEN

Sun 11 Sept 2022, 7PM

WHERE

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

Madama Butterfly, Royal Opera House

Sensational Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian returns to the title role, sharing the eight performances with Maria Agresta, with American tenor Joshua Guerrero making an interesting house debut as the naval officer who weds a young Japanese woman and abandons her. Moshe Leiser's beautiful production never fails to move.

WHEN

Mon 12 Sept to Sat 1 Oct 2022, eight performances, times vary

WHERE

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

Philharmonia, Royal Festival Hall

The Philharmonia orchestra's London season opens with their exciting new conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali welcoming fellow Finn, maverick piano soloist Vikingur Ólafsson (pictured), for a really imaginative programme. Anna Clyne's Masquerade recalls the 18th-century London pleasure gardens, while John Adams's Must the devil have all the good tunes? is a piano concerto in all but name, virtuosic and surprisingly funky. After the interval, Mahler's moving Symphony No 5.

WHEN

Thurs 22 Sept 2022, 7:30PM

WHERE

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

Season launch concert, London Chamber Orchestra

Celebrating its centenary (and a bit), the London Chamber Orchestra launches its 2022/23 season with a lively concert and a celebratory drink for ticket-holders. Dani Howard begins her tenure as composer-in-residence with her Fanfare, followed by five new short works composed for the LCO. To finish, Dvorak's evergreen New World Symphony No 9. Christopher Warren-Green conducts.

WHEN

Fri 23 Sept 2022, 7:30PM

WHERE

St John's Smith Square
30 Smith Square, London , SW1P 3HF

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

Exiles and Dreamers, London Philharmonic Orchestra

The LPO under Edward Gardner opens its 2022/23 season, exploring the music of identity and displacement, with three concerts in September. Our favourite opens with Tchaikovsky's emotionally charged Fantasy Overture inspired by Romeo and Juliet and closes with Dvorak's Symphony No 7, originally commissioned by the London Philharmonic Society, and teeming with wonderful tunes. Also on the programme, Dutilleux's song cycle Correspondances, and George Walker's plaintive Lilacs, with soprano Jennifer France (pictured).

WHEN

Wed 28 Sept 2022, 7:30PM

WHERE

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

Scarpia lures Tosca by capturing her lover in Puccini's opera at English National Opera

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

30 Sep 2022 – 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