Best Concerts and Opera in October
English National Opera launches its new season with three productions, the Royal Opera stages Bernstein rarities, and the piano gets its own festival
Eugene Onegin, Royal Opera House
A new production of Tchaikovsky's moving and lyrical opera. Young Tatyana, sung by Russian soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan (pictured), falls for the world-weary friend of her sister's fiancé, but is rejected, with lasting consequences for all. Expect wonderful singing, rousing chorus numbers and dances that reflect the layers in a class-conscious society.
Read more ...Bow Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD
La Bohème, English National Opera
Puccini's opera is both tender and rumbustious by turns. When Mimì calls on her neighbour, it is love at first sight, but as the seasons unfold, illness fills the void left when passion fades. Jonathan Miller's excellent and timeless production has all the spirit of bohemian Paris. The new cast includes Nadine Benjamin (pictured) as Mimì, and Joshua Blue as Rodolfo.
Read more ...London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4ES
London Piano Festival, Kings Place
The ninth annual London Piano Festival continues to explore the instrument's endless possibilities, this opening with an all-Mozart programme, marking the centenary of the death of French composer Gabriel Fauré, and closing with music by Messiaen. Artists include festival founders Katya Apekisheva & Charles Owen, and Susan Tomes (pictured).
Read more ...Fidelio, Royal Opera House
The shadow of Covid hung over this production's first staging at Covent Garden in 2020, so this is a welcome return for a very strong interpretation of Beethoven's only opera. A young woman dons disguise and adopts the name 'Fidelio' to reach a man imprisoned for his political beliefs. Jennifer Davis sings the title role, with American tenor Eric Cutler as her jailed Florestan.
Read more ...Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD
Trouble in Tahiti + A Quiet Place
Be ready to pounce on returns for this very rare production of two short operas by Leonard Bernstein, centred on a couple's early fallings out, and then returning to their story 30 years on. A fine cast including Culture Whisper favourite artist Nick Pritchard (pictured), the intimacy of the Royal Opera House's smaller Linbury Theatre and a top production team make this a very promising event.
Read more ...Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DDl
The Turn of the Screw, English National Opera
Benjamin Britten created an opera out of Henry James's mystery, set in a country house where a new governess is unsettled by the behaviour of her young charges. A new production features soprano Ailish Tynan as the Governness, Gweneth Ann Rand (pictured) as the housekeeper Mrs Grose, and Robert Murray as former staffer Peter Quint. A must-see. As ENO says: 'The setting is Bronte-esque, but the menace is pure Hitchcock...'
Read more ...London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4ES
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, John Wilson& Sinfonia of London
Playing Shostakovich's visceral first cello concerto, Sheku Kanneh-Mason (pictured) won the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016. Now he plunges into the second concerto, with the dynamic Sinfonia of London under conductor John Wilson. An inspiration to young cellists, who can also hear Rachmaninov's dramatic Symphony No 1. A great programme for rising musicians in the family.
Read more ...Aurora: Stravinsky's Firebird by Heart
Aurora Orchestra's performances from memory have become a highlight of the BBC Proms, and fresh from their triumph this year with Beethoven's mighty Choral Symphony, they return to Stravinsky and the story-telling Firebird. Another great programme for families with young musicians. Alexandre Tharaud is the soloist in Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, and BBC presenter and musicologist Tom Service unwraps the Stravinsky before the memorised performance.
Read more ...South Bank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Half Six Fix: the LSO plays Beethoven's 1st
This early evening one-hour concert by the London Symphony Orchestra, under composer, conductor and presenter Thomas Adès, features Beethoven's Symphony No 1. The piece is introduced and unpacked before a complete play-through. These Half Six Fix concerts are little treasures that fit into the working day or day out. If this one whets your appetite, the symphony is played again in a full length concert on 31 Oct.
Read more ...Rigoletto, English National Opera
Return of another great production by Jonathan Miller for ENO. This time he sets Verdi's abduction opera amid New York's 1950s mobs. Robyn Allegra Parton (pictured) sings innocent Gilda, infatuated with the heartless Duke (Yungzhao Yu). Ravishing melodies and a stirring male chorus cannot hide the cruelty of this ever-relevant tale.
Read more ...London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4ES