LET PLAY RESUME! LIVE MUSIC GUIDE 2021/22
UK
Sofie Vanden Eynde and Déborah Cachet
St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh, 8 January
Web: gcs.org.uk
Edinburgh’s Georgian Concert Society sees in the new year with a visit to the Parisian salon of the Marquise de Rambouillet, as evoked by theorbo player Sofie Vanden Eynde and soprano Déborah Cachet, who will perform music by Charpentier, Marais and Sainte-Colombe. Florilegium cuts symphonic Haydn down to chamber size in February, while in March mezzo Helen Charlston and Chelys Consort of Viols favours William Byrd.
Danny Driver
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, 16 January
Web: rwcmd.ac.uk
The Steinway International Piano series resumes with a line-up including Anna Fedorova and Julien Libeer. First comes Danny Driver, who rounds out a programme of Fauré, Debussy, Ligeti, Lili Boulanger and Betsy Jolas with Schumann’s heroic Études symphoniques.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, 20, 23 January
Web: liverpoolphil.com
The orchestra’s new principal conductor Domingo Hindoyan (see p36) ends the month with Bruckner’s mighty Symphony No. 8, but first he invites Jean-Efflam Bavouzet to join him for Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G. It sits between Messiaen’s Les offrandes oubliées and Debussy’s Jeux. The suite from Roussel’s Bacchus et Ariadne caps an all-French programme whose repeat swaps Ravel’s Boléro for the Messiaen.
Carolyn Dobbin
Portico of Ards, County Down, 22 January
Web: porticoards.com
Northern Irish mezzo Carolyn Dobbin is the founding force behind a project that champions forgotten songs by Irish composers as well as encouraging new work. Accompanied by Ruth McGinley, the two delve into songs by Hamilton Harty, Howard Ferguson and Joan Trimble among others.
Psappha
Hallé St Peters, Manchester, 4 February
Web: psappha.com
The contemporary music ensemble, celebrating its 30th birthday, signals its ongoing vitality with 16 world premieres as well as a collaboration with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Its first concert of the year boasts four world premieres, including a new work by Simon Holt; there’s music, too, by Mark-Anthony Turnage and Aaron Parker.
Opera North
Grand Theatre, Leeds, from 5 February
Web: operanorth.co.uk
Concert performances of Wagner’s Parsifal conducted by Richard Farnes at the end of the season might be Opera North’s hottest prospect, but in February there’s magic in the air as Tim Albery directs Handel’s Alcina, a tale of often disastrous enchantments. Máire Flavin sings the title role with Patrick Terry as the all-conquering Ruggiero. Laurence Cummings conducts.
London Sinfonietta
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 6 February
A celebration of Canadian composer Claude Vivier in May aside, almost all of the Sinfonietta’s offering involves world premieres. February’s double bill, created as part of its ‘Writing the Future’ scheme, pairs works by Luke Lewis and Alicia Jane Turner, conducted by Sian Edwards.
Orchestra of the Swan
Playhouse, Stratford-upon-Avon, 8 February
Clarinettist Michael Collins, this season’s principal conductor, conducts Ravel’s G), John Adams () and Ravel’s sometime pupil Vaughan Williams (the Overture).
