Support Us Login

Classical Music

Classical and Opera 2023: looking ahead to the best music

By Claudia Pritchard on 20/12/2022

Stirring opera with world-class artists, the powerful music of home and exile, and fun for children

Sound Unwrapped, Kings Place

Where does music end and the rest of our aural world begin? A year-long series of events at Kings Place explores the outer limits of music and sound with artists who push the boundaries, including virtuoso percussionist Colin Currie, the innovative London Sinfonietta, and artist-in-residence, the performer, producer and BBC presenter Hannah Peel (pictured). A workout for the ears that should appeal to younger audiences too. Photo: Pal Hansen/The Observer

WHEN

All year

WHERE

Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GE

The Royal Opera, Jan-July

The packed 2022/23 season continues with classics and newer works. Our pick: new productions of Dvorak's Rusalka (from 21 Feb) and Verdi's Il Trovatore (from 2 June and in cinemas 13 June), and the Norwegian superstar soprano Lise Davidson (pictured) in Verdi's chilling Don Carlo (from 30 June).

WHEN

09 Jan 2023 – 23 Jul 2023

WHERE

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

A Place to Call Home, London Philharmonic Orchestra

The music of exile and belonging binds a series of concerts at the Royal Festival Hall by composers and artists of countless nations. Listen out for the world premiere of Nova by Kyiv-born Victoria Vita Polevá, dedicated to the courage of Ukraine, alongside the humorous new Dong With a Luminous Nose by Russian-born Elena Langer (pictured) and Russian rebel Shostakovich's Symphony No 5, in Laughter and Tears (18 March).

WHEN

18 Jan to 6 May 2023, 10 concerts

WHERE

Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

Philip Glass's Akhnaten returns to ENO. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

English National Opera, Feb-May

Still to come in ENO's very varied 2022/23 season, Bizet's sizzling Carmen, Wagner's fable The Rheingold, Philip Glass's mesmerising Akhnaten (pictured) and exciting explorations of lesser known works. ENO is in peril, and needs Londoners' support. Under-21s can go free, under-35s at a reduced price. Use it or lose it!

WHEN

01 Feb 2023 – 06 May 2023

WHERE

English National Opera
London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4ES

Chamber Tots, Wigmore Hall

Children aged 3 to 5 are the stars of these lunchtime music events at Wigmore Hall. The next generation of concert-goers are treated to an hour of songs, stories and music-making with instruments. Themes include Enchanted Worlds, Time Travelling and Under the Sea.

WHEN

26 Jan, 11 Feb, 1 March and 24 March 2023, 11:45PM-12:45PM

WHERE

Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP

Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin was one of the 2022 hits at Opera Holland Park. The 2023 season is under way. Photo: Ali Wright

Opera Holland Park 2023

Opera Holland Park is the go-to summer music venue for London's music-lovers, and in 2023 it will be presenting more than the classics of the opera repertoire for which it is justly renowned. Yes, make a date with Verdi's Rigoletto, Puccini's La Bohème, family opera Hansel and Gretel, Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore. But don't miss contemporary composer Jonathan Dove's new opera based on the periodic table, Itch..

WHEN

30 May 2023 – 31 Aug 2023, Five productions, start times vary

WHERE

Opera Holland Park
Stable Yard, Holland Park, London , W8 6LU

The Bartered Bride, returning to Garsington Opera, has its own circus. Photo: Clive Barda

Garsington Opera 2023

One of the companies Londoners love to see in action, and one that always punches above its weight, stages four opera on the Getty estate at Wormsley, near High Wycombe. Pack your picnic and make a beeline for Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Mozart's Mitridate, re di Ponto, Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, starring soprano Natalya Romaniw, and the welcome revival of a circus-themed production of Smetana's The Bartered Bride.

WHEN

31 May to 21 July 2023

WHERE

Garsington Opera
Wormsley Estate , Stokenchurch, HP14 3YG

Glyndebourne Festival Opera is loved for its music – and its gardens. Photo: James Bellorini

Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2023

Three exciting new productions dominate a season that is punctuated with revivals of three outstanding classics. Our pick: new productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni (19 May to 15 July), Poulenc's moving Dialogues des Carmelites (10 June to 29 July) and Handel's tune-packed Semele (23 July to 26 Aug). And if you've never seen Peter Hall's magical reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1 July to 22 Aug), prepare to be spellbound. Public booking opens in March.

WHEN

19 May 2023 – 27 Aug 2023, Six productions with long dinner interval. Start times and running times vary

WHERE

Glyndebourne
Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5UU

Aldeburgh Festival, Suffolk

Get away from it all but keep the music coming at this gorgeous annual event. Just inland from the coastal town, world-class events include the world premiere of Sarah Angliss’ new opera Giant and the UK premiere of The Art of Being Human in which music, dance and visual art combine. Featured musicians include pianist Pavel Kolesnikov; baritone and composer Roderick Williams (pictured) and composers Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Cassandra Miller. With visual art too and a programme of talks, it's the perfect escape.

WHEN

9 to 25 June 2023

WHERE

Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape Bridge, Snape IP17 1SP, and nearby venues

London Handel Festival, Forces of Nature

Be blown away by the singing and playing of the world's premier Baroque artists in this annual celebration of London's greatest composer, German-born George Frideric Handel. Astonishing musical technique and a gift for story-telling underpin the musicianship, in atmospheric places. Expect the quirky as well as the sublime. Our favourite dates include In the Realms of Sorrow at the Stone Nest, when top performers include counter-tenor Patrick Terry, sopranos Nardus Williams (pictured) and Soraya Mafi, mezzo-soprano Claire Booth and dancer Jonathon Luke Baker (28 Feb and 1 March)

WHEN

19 Feb to 7 April 2023

WHERE

St George's, Hanover Square, London W1S 1FX and other central London venues

Grange Park Opera 2023

At the Theatre in the Woods, a short ride out of London, Grange Park stages three new productions and a gala night with Sir Bryn Terfel. Love defies all obstacles in the three operas. Wagner's Tristan and Isolde opens the season (8 June to 9 July), followed by Puccini's Tosca (20 June to 5 July) and finally, Massenet's Werther (27 June to 12 July). Artists include exciting new Polish soprano Isabel Matula (pictured) in the title role of Tosca. Pack a picnic.

WHEN

8 June to 12 July 2023

WHERE

Grange Park OperaWest Horsley Place, Epsom Road, West Horsley, Leatherhead KT24 6AN

Sir Simon Rattle's farewell concerts, Barbican

No one wants to see Sir Simon Rattle (pictured) leave London and the London Symphony Orchestra, but take heart – Sir Antonio Pappano, currently music director at the Royal Opera, is going to step up to the podium soon. In the meantime, Sir Simon goes out with a bang (and he will be back from Munich from time to time) with a work he loves – Janáček's dramatic Turangilîla Symphony. So popular will this landmark event be there are two performances. But seats will go fast. Book yours now, to be part of London's musical story.

WHEN

14 and 15 June 2023

WHERE

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

BBC Proms 2023

The biggest music festival in the world is always a must-go event. Expect lots of great Rachmaninov pieces in the year that marks 150 years since his birth in Russia, including, with luck one or all three of his piano concertos. Look out, too, for offbeat late night events and the ever-popular CBeebies Proms. Full details are expected in April.

WHEN

15 July to 10 Sept 2023

WHERE

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, South Kensington, London SW7 2AP

Classical and Opera 2023: looking ahead to the best music

Stirring opera with world-class artists, the powerful music of home and exile, and fun for children

Sound Unwrapped, Kings Place

The Royal Opera, Jan-July

A Place to Call Home, London Philharmonic Orchestra

English National Opera, Feb-May

Chamber Tots, Wigmore Hall

Opera Holland Park 2023

Garsington Opera 2023

Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2023

Aldeburgh Festival, Suffolk

London Handel Festival, Forces of Nature

Grange Park Opera 2023

Sir Simon Rattle's farewell concerts, Barbican

BBC Proms 2023

Royal Opera

English National Opera

Handel

Opera Holland Park

Garsington Opera

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Grange Park Opera

Best Concerts and Opera in January

Classical and Opera 2022: our pick of the year

Víkingur Ólafsson: a world-class pianist at home in London