{"id":7613,"date":"2021-12-01T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T08:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=160537"},"modified":"2021-12-01T09:12:14","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T08:12:14","slug":"the-best-live-classical-concerts-and-operas-this-month-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/the-best-live-classical-concerts-and-operas-this-month-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"The best live classical concerts and operas this month in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Paul Riley\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 01 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

London Sinfonietta<\/a><\/h2>\n

Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 1 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

During its debut season just over half-a-century ago, the Sinfonietta gave the European premiere of Roberto Gerhard\u2019s last two Zodiac pieces: Libra<\/em>, a sextet fusing folk and serial elements, and the chamber symphony Leo<\/em>, a nod to his wife\u2019s birth sign. Both feature in an appropriately Catalan-themed programme marking the composer\u2019s 125th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra<\/a><\/h2>\n

Lighthouse, Poole, 1 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ryan Wigglesworth is both soloist and conductor, as Mozart\u2019s sunny A major Piano Concerto K414 prefaces a work Dvo\u0159\u00e1k characterised as about \u2018Love, God and my fatherland\u2019, his D minor Symphony No. 7. There\u2019s more \u2018fatherland\u2019 at the outset: Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s bucolic Lachian Dances<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sinfonia Cymru<\/a><\/h2>\n

Riverfront, Newport, 1 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

The orchestra slims down to chamber forces and summons its winds for a lunchtime concert, crowning works by Rossini, Mendelssohn and Koechlin with a quartet by Rossini\u2019s near-contemporary Vincenzo Gambaro.<\/p>\n

Echo Vocal Ensemble<\/a><\/h2>\n

Priory, Lancaster, 2 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

The natural world and climate change are exercising Echo Vocal Ensemble in a line-up stretching from 12th-century Hildegard of Bingen to brand new pieces by Lillie Harris and Rory Wainwright Johnston. Along the way they encounter works by Clemens non Papa, Sch\u00fctz, Palestrina, Britten and Judith Weir.<\/p>\n

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra<\/a><\/h2>\n

City Halls, Glasgow, 2 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite Tchaikovsky\u2019s month for the BBC SSO, what with the Piano Concerto No. 1 on 9 December and his Symphony No. 6 here. But associate conductor Alpesh Chauhan has less familiar fare up his sleeve to introduce Tchaikovsky\u2019s Sixth: Schoenberg\u2019s Chamber Symphony No. 2, over 30 years in the making, and, performed by mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, the 23-year-old Korngold\u2019s elegiac Abschiedslieder<\/em>.<\/p>\n

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Percussion Ensemble<\/a><\/h2>\n

CBSO Centre, Birmingham, 3 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teamed with students from the Birmingham Conservatory, two members of the orchestra head up a conspectus of contemporary percussion music starting with Lounge Lizards<\/em>, Michael Daugherty\u2019s affectionate love letter to the American diner. Propping up the bar too are Missy Mazzoli, Steve Reich and, tapping into Shaman drumming, John Luther Adams.<\/p>\n

Opera Rara<\/a><\/h2>\n

Cadogan Hall, London, 3 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

Based on a poem by Pushkin, Leoncavallo\u2019s verismo slice of Gypsy life Zingari<\/em> received its 1912 world premiere in London. Conducted by Carl Rizzi (at the head of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), the reconstructed full-length original version returns to the capital with Krassimira Stoyanova as the ill-fated Fleana.<\/p>\n

Heath Quartet<\/a><\/h2>\n

Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, York, 3 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s all change at the Heath Quartet, with ex-Navarra Quartet violinist Marije Johnston replacing founding leader Oliver Heath. Haydn is added to the mix for Wigmore Hall later in the month, but for York, Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s Intimate Letters<\/em> Quartet is paired with Beethoven\u2019s Op. 131<\/em> \u2013 a work that left Schubert despairing whether there was anything more to be said.<\/p>\n

Ulster Orchestra<\/a><\/h2>\n

Ulster Hall, Belfast, 3 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

En route to Musorgsky\u2019s Pictures at an Exhibition<\/em>, the orchestra\u2019s chief conductor Daniele Rustioni is careful to balance a familiar warhorse with something less familiar. Thomas Ad\u00e8s\u2019s \u2026but all shall be well and Elizabeth Maconchy\u2019s Nocturne<\/em> frame Shostakovich\u2019s birthday present to his son: Piano Concerto No. 2. Steven Osborne is the soloist.<\/p>\n

Brodsky Quartet<\/a><\/h2>\n

Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon, 4 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Doric Quartet might be the Centre\u2019s quartet-in-residence, but that doesn\u2019t preclude visits by guests such as the Brodskys \u2013 joined by cellist Laura van der Heijden for Schubert\u2019s cello-rich Quintet in C, D956. Alongside Shostakovich\u2019s Quartet No. 8 there\u2019s also an arrangement of Bach\u2019s C major Sonata for solo violin, BWV1005.<\/p>\n

Ensemble 360<\/a><\/h2>\n

Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 4 December<\/p>\n

Hungary beckons as the shape-shifting ensemble rounds off its Autumn \u2018in the round\u2019 season. Athletic and acerbic, Bart\u00f3k\u2019s Violin Sonata No. 1 is paired with Ligeti\u2019s Horn Trio, completed in 1982 as a companion piece (and \u2018hommage\u2019) to Brahms\u2019s refulgent Op. 40 Trio.<\/p>\n

Pianists Katya Apekisheva and Charles Owen<\/a><\/h2>\n

John Innes Centre, Norwich, 4 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

The artistic directors of the London Piano Festival reunite for a recital of duets bookended by Mozart \u2013 the sonatas K358 and K479. Schubert\u2019s troubled A minor Lebensst\u00fcrme<\/em> and A major Rondo sustain a Viennese dominance challenged by Debussy\u2019s evergreen Petite<\/em> Suite<\/em> and Stravinsky\u2019s Cinq pi\u00e8ces faciles<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Manchester Collective<\/a><\/h2>\n

Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, 5 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018This is a noisy show\u2019 promises the Collective\u2019s latest tour featuring electronics, percussion, amplified strings and an Ibanez Tube Screamer (distortion pedal). New works by Ben Nobuto and Sebastian Gainsborough share the billing with music by Dobrinka Tabakova, Michael Gordon and Bryce Dessner.<\/p>\n

London Philharmonic Orchestra<\/a><\/h2>\n

Royal Festival Hall, London, 8 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vladimir Jurowski\u2019s first concert as the LPO\u2019s conductor emeritus is a typically eclectic affair. Between Shostakovich\u2019s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Leonidas Kavakos and Rachmaninov\u2019s Symphony No. 3 there\u2019s the world premiere of composer-in-residence Brett Dean\u2019s reworking of his 2018 Notturno inquieto<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Scottish Chamber Orchestra<\/a><\/h2>\n

Queen\u2019s Hall, Edinburgh, 9 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fantasy, folklore and fairy-tales underpin Portuguese conductor Joana Carneiro\u2019s pairing of Ravel\u2019s glittering Ma m\u00e8re l\u2019oye<\/em> and Mahler\u2019s songs culled from Des Knaben Wunderhorn<\/em> (The Boy\u2019s Magic Horn). Vocal honours are divided between soprano Ana Quintans and baritone Julien Van Mellaerts.<\/p>\n

The Hall\u00e9<\/a><\/h2>\n

Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 10 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following two performances in Manchester, Nicola Benedetti and the Hall\u00e9 reprise the Violin Concerto Wynton Marsalis composed for her, embedding her Scottish roots, travels and love of diversity. Conducted by Cristian Macelaru it sits between Bernstein\u2019s Candide Overture<\/em> and Musorgsky\u2019s Ravel-orchestrated Pictures at an Exhibition.<\/em><\/p>\n

BBC Philharmonic<\/a><\/h2>\n

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 11 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

The postman is going to be rather busy, what with Betsy Jolas\u2019s Letters from Bachville<\/em>, Copland\u2019s Letter from Home<\/em>, Dutilleux\u2019s Correspondances<\/em> and that postcard home writ large: Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s New World<\/em> Symphony. Ensuring a first-class delivery are soprano Carolyn Sampson and conductor Ludovic Morlot.<\/p>\n

L\u2019Arpeggiata<\/a><\/h2>\n

Barbican, London, 14 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vibrant, fearless, dramatic, at times almost improvisatory, Monteverdi\u2019s Vespers of 1610<\/em> could almost have been written for Christina Pluhar\u2019s perennially inquisitive ensemble. It\u2019s performed one-to-a-part here.<\/p>\n

Royal Opera<\/a><\/h2>\n

Covent Garden, London, 21 December \u2013 23 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

Verdi\u2019s 1842 Nabucco<\/em> was the hit that encouraged him to believe that artistically he was finally on his way. Daniele Abbado\u2019s 2013 production relocates the biblical action to the second half of the 20th century and is conducted by Daniel Oren with Enkhbat Amartuvshin in the title role.<\/p>\n

Aurora Orchestra<\/a><\/h2>\n

Kings Place, London, 31 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just 2021 that\u2019s coming to an end. The Auroras conclude their Mozart piano concerto cycle begun in 2016. The pianist for the B flat K595 is Javier Perianes; and conductor Nicholas Collon also takes the opportunity to sign off Kings Place\u2019s year-long \u2018London unwrapped\u2019 series with Handel\u2019s ever-genial Water Music<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n