Support Us Login

Classical Music

Best concerts and opera in June

By Claudia Pritchard on 16/5/2023

London's own opera festival opens at Opera Holland Park, Paddington Bear goes classical, and New Yorkers come to town

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Three exciting new productions dominate a season that is punctuated with revivals of three outstanding classic productions. Choose from Mozart's thrilling Don Giovanni, Poulenc's moving Dialogues des Carmelites or Handel's dramatic Semele. Or revisit the timeless Peter Hall production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress with David Hockney sets or Donizetti's fizzing comedy, L'Elisir d'Amore.

WHEN

Continuing until 27 Aug 2023

WHERE

Glyndebourne
Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5UU

Rigoletto, Opera Holland Park

At the elite but debauched court of Mantua, the duke plays fast and loose with the innocent adoration of his jester's daughter, Gilda, with tragic results. Alison Langer (photo: Victoria Cadisch) sings Gilda with Alessandro Scotto di Luzio as the duke and Stephen Gadd in the title role of Cecilia Stinton's new production of Verdi's opera, which opens this year's eagerly awaited Opera Holland Park season.

WHEN

Tues 30 May to Sat 24 June 2023. Nine performances at 7:30PM

WHERE

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

Garsington Opera 2023

One of the companies Londoners love to see in action, and one that always punches above its weight. Garsington Opera, on the Getty estate at Wormsley, near High Wycombe, has three new productions and one excellent revival this year. To open, Rossini's sparkling The Barber of Seville, then an early Mozart gem, Mitridate Re di Ponto. After the huge success of his Garsington Der Rosenkavalier, Bruno Ravella returns to Richard Strauss for Ariadne auf Naxos, and returning is Smetana's The Bartered Bride in its highly-acclaimed, circus-skilled production (pictured).

WHEN

Wed 31 May to Sun 23 July 2023. Four productions with long dinner interval. Start and running times vary

WHERE

Garsington Opera
Wormsley Estate , Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire HP14 3YG

Il Trovatore, Royal Opera House

Witchcraft and supernatural happenings underpin Verdi's tragic opera in a new production directed by Adele Thomas, who has already done great work at Covent Garden in the Linbury Theatre, and who also makes her Glyndebourne directing debut this summer. Listen out for Last Night of the Proms barnstorming mezzo Jamie Barton (pictured) as the sinister Azucena, with Marina Rebeca and Riccardo Massi as ill-fated lovers Leonora and Manrico. Antonio Pappano, master of the Italian repertoire, conducts.

WHEN

Fri 2 June to Mon 2 July 2023. Ten performances, start times vary

WHERE

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

Paddington is on the podium for his First Concert at St Paul's, Covent Garden

Paddington Bear's First Concert, Harmony's Music Club

Much-loved bear Paddington is a born performer. So where better than the Actors' Church, St Paul's Covent Garden, for Paddington's First Concert? The accident-prone arrival from Peru will be entertaining audiences aged 3 to 103 with his special take on classical music.

WHEN

On 10 Jun 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

WHERE

St Paul's Church
Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9ED

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the annual free Trafalgar Square concert

Simon Rattle's free LSO Concert, Trafalgar Square

Grab a picnic and a rug, and head for Trafalgar Square for one of the happiest music events of the year. Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra perform live as the conductor prepares to leave for Germany. But it's French composers to the fore in this lively programme, which also includes music by modernist John Adams, and Russian rule-breaker Igor Stravinsky.

WHEN

On 10 Jun 2023, 5PM. Free open-air concert

WHERE

Trafalgar Square
Westminster, London, WC2N 5DN

Hansel and Gretel, Opera Holland Park

The ultimate family opera, but also a wise piece for older audiences. Hansel and Gretel are lost in the woods when they are sent out for food after spilling the milk, but the gingerbread house that would feed a hundred children is not what it seems. Englebert Humperdinck's opera gleams with melody and luscious musical effects. Charlotte Balham is Hansel and Laura Lolita Perešivana is Gretel, with Eleanor Dennis (pictured) as the Witch in John Wilkie's new production.

WHEN

Sat 10 June to Fri 23 June 2023. Six performances: five at 7:30PM, one (Sun 18 June) at 2PM

WHERE

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

Sir Simon Rattle's farewell concerts

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

Wed 14 and Thurs 15 June 2023, 7:30PM

WHERE

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

Opera-lovers picnic in the gardens during the long interval at Grange Park Opera

Grange Park Opera 2023

With Wagner's Tristan and Isolde (six performances, 8 June to 9 July), Grange Park Opera opens a season of music inspired by doomed love. Also staged, Puccini's evergreen Tosca (seven performances 10 June to 5 July) and Massenet's Werther, with its struggle between passion and virtue (five performances, 17 June to 12 July). Take a picnic, and mingle in the Crinkle-Crinkle garden....

WHEN

Thurs 8 June to Wed 12 July 2023. Three productions, with long dinner interval

WHERE

Grange Park Opera
West Horsley Place, West Horsley, Leatherhead, KT24 6AW

Werther, Royal Opera House

The USP of this revival of Massenet's romantic opera is the casting of rising soprano Aigul Akhmetshina opposite enduring German tenor Jonas Kaufmann (pictured). The pair play lovers separated by circumstance, then reunited, but at a great cost. And Sir Antonio Pappano conducts: with his last year at Covent Garden in sight, catch everything he does here, while you can.

WHEN

Tues 20 June to Tues 4 July 2023. Five performances, start times vary

WHERE

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

Everest, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Barbican

Four climbers confront the summit of Mount Everest – and a life-or-death choice in Joby Talbot’s opera about the limits of human courage, and the unbreakable power of nature. In this semi-staged version, visual projections go into the eye of a raging storm as the edge-of-your-seat story unfolds. The BBCSO under Nicole Paiement is joined by the BBC Singers and soloists.

WHEN

Fri 23 June 2023, 7:30PM

WHERE

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

The Met Orchestra and soloists, Barbican

A really showbiz-y end to the Barbican's classical music year with New York-based artists – the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House under their director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and soloists Joyce DiDonato (pictured), Angel Blue and Russell Thomas. Music inspired by the stage includes Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and Act IV of Verdi's Otello. Pure razzle-dazzle.

WHEN

Thurs 29 June 2023, 7:30PM

WHERE

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

Best concerts and opera in June

London's own opera festival opens at Opera Holland Park, Paddington Bear goes classical, and New Yorkers come to town

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Rigoletto, Opera Holland Park

Garsington Opera 2023

Il Trovatore, Royal Opera House

Paddington Bear's First Concert, Harmony's Music Club

Simon Rattle's free LSO Concert, Trafalgar Square

Hansel and Gretel, Opera Holland Park

Sir Simon Rattle's farewell concerts

Grange Park Opera 2023

Werther, Royal Opera House

Everest, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Barbican

The Met Orchestra and soloists, Barbican

Garsington Opera

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Grange Park Opera

Opera Holland Park

London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Simon Rattle

Best concerts and opera in May

Opera at Covent Garden 2023/24: Royal Opera season in full

The 12 best BBC Proms 2023: passion and innovation

REVIEW - UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey, Wayne McGregor ★★★★★

Lang Lang and the RPO, Royal Albert Hall

Country house opera 2023: what to book and when