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A Night at The Opera
Tue 18 Nov Symphony Hall
*A Spectacular Celebration of the Worlds favourite Opera Classics* At last, an event to celebrate the universal love for some of the most enduring music ever created! A Night at the Opera starring Jonathan Ansell, special guests and the Night at the Opera Orchestra is a glorious celebration of the most famous and best loved arias from the world’s favourite operas Jonathan Ansell, the charismatic young singer with the sensational tenor voice who shot to fame three years ago with pop opera group G4 on the X Factor, has now established himself as a bona fide solo star. Jonathan achieved amazing success with the classically-trained group G4, whose final performance as a group was a sensational sold out show at the Royal Albert Hall. But surpassing this, he has now achieved a debut solo album that topped the classical charts and also hit the top ten of the pop charts. Including Aida, The Barber of Seville, La Boheme, Carmen, Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Madame Butterfly, The Magic Flute, Rigoletto Tosca, La Traviata and many more.
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Ultimate Romantics 1: Mahler and Wagner
Wed 10 Dec Symphony Hall
In two concerts this winter, some of the most extravagant and passionate music of the late romantic era comes to Symphony Hall. The second act of Wagner’s Tristan contains one of music’s greatest love scenes. The adagio from mahler’s unfinished tenth Symphony is similarly in love with life, but it is the heartfelt last testament of a man about to be torn from the world. Few young conductors have received the plaudits that have been awarded to Vladimir Jurowski, new Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and music Director of Glyndebourne Opera, who conducts the first concert in this series. 6.15pm pre-concert talk Tickets £5-£37.50
*London Philharmonic Orchestra* *Vladimir Jurowski* conductor *Anja Kampe* Isolde *Robert Dean Smith* Tristan *Sarah Connolly* Brangaene *Laszlo Polgar* Marke *Stephen Gadd* Melot/Kurnewal
*Mahler* Adagio from Symphony No 10 22’ *Wagner* Act II from Tristan and Isolde 75’
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Verdi's Requiem
Fri 20 Mar 2009 Symphony Hall
The Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House take up residence at Symphony Hall for two nights, with a glittering line-up of soloists and their Music Director, Antonio Pappano. _“ Everything Pappano conducts has highoctane energy, and that quality radiates off the podium as strongly as it does on it”_ *Daily Telegraph* Verdi’s Requiem is one of the greatest choral masterpieces of all time, and often described as an opera in all but name. Charged with passion, terrifying force, tenderness and consolation, this music comes straight from the composer’s heart. His sumptuous and dramatic choral writing gives us the chance to hear one of the world’s great opera choruses in full voice, in what promises to be a searing performance of this great score. *Classic FM’s Anne-Marie Minhall says of tonight’s recommended concert:* _The first of two performances in Symphony Hall for the Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House under Antonio Pappano. It’s seven years since the London-born Italian-American conductor became the music director at Covent Garden. Then 42, he was also the youngest to hold the post and since taking over the musical reins, he’s been acclaimed both by the public and critics alike. Pappano even had a premonition he’d be in the top job at Covent Garden as he read the former music director Sir Georg Solti’s autobiography._ *6.15pm pre-concert talk* Tickets £5-£50 _please note there is no interval_
*The Royal Opera Chorus* *The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House* *Antonio Pappano* conductor *Barbara Frittoli* soprano *Olga Borodina* mezzo-soprano *Piotr Beczala* tenor *Ildar Abdrazakov* bass
*Verdi* Requiem 90’
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Britten's War Requiem
Sat 21 Mar 2009 Symphony Hall
The War requiem is one of Britten’s most powerful works, born out of his fiercely held pacifism. Composed at the height of the Cold War, it spoke directly to a nation living under the threat of nuclear war. The work mixes powerful settings of the poems of Wilfred Owen, describing the horrors of war, with the words of the Requiem mass, and ultimately offers the hope of reconciliation. No tenor is more associated with Britten’s music at the moment than Ian Bostridge, heard here alongside the warm baritone of Simon Keenlyside and leading young soprano Emma Bell. *BBC music magazine’s editor, Oliver Condy, explains why he has recommended tonight’s concert:* _"This unsettling work is a powerful anti-war oratorio, written for the re-consecration of nearby Coventry Cathedral in 1962. Bringing this searing piece to life are three of the most gifted British singers alive today accompanied by Covent Garden’s orchestra - an ensemble currently at the height of its powers. This will be a highly emotional, haunting concert - full of drama and pathos.”_ "BBC Music Magazine":http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com *5.45pm pre-concert talk* Tickets £5-£50
*The Royal Opera Chorus* *The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House* *Antonio Pappano* conductor *Emma Bell* soprano *Ian Bostridge* tenor *Simon Keenlyside* baritone *Tiffin Boys’ Choir*
*Britten* War Requiem 90’
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Purcell's Dido & Aeneas
Sat 18 Apr 2009 Town Hall
Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas is an emotionally charged drama of love, death, fate and the supernatural. Tonight’s fully-staged performance celebrates the 350th anniversary of Purcell’s birth in 1659. It reveals the hopeless love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, like you’ve never heard it before: a stunning reconstruction of the 1700 Lincoln’s Inn Theatre revival of the opera, which reconstructs additional scenes and longlost music and is accompanied by a large and colourful orchestra of period instruments. *BBC music magazine’s editor, Oliver Condy, explains why he has recommended tonight’s concert:* _"Before Elgar came along, Purcell was seen as England’s greatest composer. For many he still is - and Dido and Aeneas is his masterwork. Bringing it to sparkling life is the heady combination of one of the great authentic performance ensembles around today, a legendary director and some a brilliant cast of singers.”_ "BBC Music Magazine":http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com *6.15pm pre-concert talk* Tickets £5-£30
*New London Consort* *Philip Pickett* conductor *Jonathan Miller* director *Sue Lefton* choreography, movement *Eskandar* costumes *Julia Gooding* _Dido_ *Michael George* _Aeneas_ *Joanne Lunn* _Belinda_
*Purcell* Dido and Aeneas (1700) 100’
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Handel's Arianna
Wed 13 May 2009 Town Hall
Handel heaven for lovers of great singing! We present a truly starstudded international cast for Arianna, the last in the academy of ancient music’s series of Handel operas in Birmingham and a fitting celebration of the 250th anniversary of Handel’s death. Since its first recording in 1999 Arianna has emerged as a forgotten masterpiece, full of vital, colourful music. It is the perfect vehicle for the sublime voices of Angelika Kirchschlager, Alice Coote, Lisa Milne and their colleagues, and baroque opera is a wonderful experience in the intimate and beautiful surroundings of Town Hall. Tickets £5-£30 Please note - Concert performance sung in italian. There will be two intervals.
*Academy of Ancient Music* *Christopher Hogwood* conductor *Lisa Milne* _Alceste_ *Angelika Kirchschlager* _Teseo_ *Sonia Prina* _Carilda_ *Alice Coote* _Tauride_ *Antonio Abete* _Minos_
*Handel* Arianna in Creta (1733) 164’
