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Classical Music

Best concerts and opera in February

By Claudia Pritchard on 17/1/2024

Opera searches for love and meaning, while Vauxhall unwinds with music for all ages

La Bohème, Royal Opera House

Richard Jones's production of Puccini's romantic and tragic opera has a plausible garret for its struggling artists (singers report banging their heads regularly on the beams), and an eye-popping Quality Street Parisian cafe scene in Act Two. At its heart, the love affair between Mimì and Rodolfo, which falters until Mimì's illness brings them together again, but too late.... Angela Gheorghiu is among sopranos singing Mimì at some of the 13 performances, and look out for Lauren Fagan as saucy Musetta.

WHEN

24 Jan to 16 Feb 2024, start times vary. Running time 2hr 35min including one interval

WHERE

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

The Handmaid's Tale, English National Opera

The opera of Margaret Atwood's chilling tale returns to ENO to open 2024 in its 'greatest hits' season. An all-star cast singing Paul Ruders' score includes Eleanor Dennis, Susan Bickley, Zwakele Tshabalala and Nadine Benjamin (pictured). The dystopian tale of a society that belittles women is distilled into a succinct and powerful stage work.

WHEN

Thurs 1 Feb to Thurs 15 Feb 2024. Five performances; start times vary. Running time 2hr 45min, with one interval

WHERE

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

Tosca, Royal Opera House

Puccini's action-packed opera in the timeless Jonathan Kent production never gets stale, because with each new cast there is new excitement. For this revival, look out for Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte, making her role debut at Covent Garden having made a spectacular house debut in January, jumping in for an indisposed Nina Stemme in Elektra. She plays the opera singer pursued by Rome's chief of police, and tested to the limit.

WHEN

Mon 5 Feb to Sat 24 Feb 2024; Mon 1 July to Sun 21 July 2024. Five performances in Feb. Running time 3 hr, including two intervals

WHERE

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

Oksana Lyniv and the LPO play Dvorak, Royal Festival Hall

A really big talent in the new wave of women conductors, Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv (pictured) joins the London Philharmonic Orchestra for a concert that includes a UK premiere of the Symphony No 4 for cello and orchestra (The Bell) by her countrywoman Victoria Vita Polevá. Israeli cellist Inbal Segev is the soloist. The programme open with the enchanting music from his opera The Cunning Little Vixen by Janáček, and ends with Dvorak's joyful Symphony No 8.

WHEN

Fri 9 Feb 2024, 7:30PM

WHERE

Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

The Barber of Seville, English National Opera

Jonathan Miller's matchless production of Rossini's romantic comedy is genuinely funny and there is a great new cast for this production, including soprano Anna Devin making her ENO debut as captive Rosina and Innocent Masuku (pictured) as the barber and fixer Figaro, who helps a lovesick nobleman rescue her. The music room scene is delectable.

WHEN

Mon 12 to Fri 29 Feb 2024. Seven performances; start times vary. Running time 3hr 5min, including on interval

WHERE

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

The Protecting Veil, Barbican

John Tavener’s intensely beautiful, contemplative eight-part work for cello and string orchestra, The Protecting Veil, has been hugely popular since its premiere at the Proms in 1989. Soloist Guy Johnston and the Britten Sinfonia present the work, which reflects the composer’s Orthodox faith. In the first half, Britten Sinfonia performs Bartók’s compelling, mood-shifting Divertimento, written on the eve of World War II and opens with an orchestral transcription of Beethoven’s compelling Grosse Fuge for string quartet.

WHEN

Thurs 15 Feb 2024, 7:30PM

WHERE

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

Dies Irae: Patricia Kopatchinskaja & Aurora

Ever innovative violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja has devised a multi-media mixture of music, video and lighting in response to the global climate crisis and the social instability it engenders. Aurora Orchestra will join her in works ranging across several continents and centuries, culminating in Galina Ustvolskaya’s dramatic Dies Irae, scored for piano, wood block and seven double basses.

WHEN

Wed 21 Feb 2024, 7:30PM. Running time 1hr 30min with no interval

WHERE

Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

The Magic Flute, English National Opera

Mozart's knockabout opera has romance, adventure, musical magic and magical music. This revival of Simon McBurney's entrancing production has a really interesting cast, featuring many of the most exciting new artists today, among them Stephanie Wake-Edwards and Ossian Huskinson in smaller roles but with greater things to come. Catch them now, and revel in Mozart's sublime score, sung in English and conducted by German-born Erina Yashima, one of the new generation of women conductors.

WHEN

28 Feb to 30 March 2024: 11 performances, start times vary. Running time 2hr 55min, including one interval

WHERE

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

The Flying Dutchman, Royal Opera House

The perfect opera for those who want to dip their toes into Wagner but find the four-opera Ring marathon a little daunting. In this standalone piece, a man is doomed to sail the seas until true love liberates him from his accursed wanderings. In Tim Albery's atmospheric production, baritone Bryn Terfel is the lonely Dutchman, with Swedish soprano Elisabet Strid as Senta, the young woman who takes pity on him, and tenor Toby Spence as her rejected suitor, Erik.

WHEN

29 Feb to 16 March 2024. Six performances, start times vary. Running time 2hr 20min with no interval

WHERE

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

Classical Vauxhall

This long weekend of music is a real Culture Whisper favourite, for its innovative programming, choice of artists and appealing venues. Highlight of the five-event mini-festival include violinist Elena Urioste and pianist Tom Poster with their classical juke box at St Mark's, Kennington (29 Feb) and Adjoa Andoh (pictured) narrating Prokofiev's timeless fable in music, Peter and the Wolf, at Edinburgh House, Kennington Lane.

WHEN

Thurs 29 Feb to Sun 3 March 2024. Five events, start and running times vary

WHERE

Various south London venues

Best concerts and opera in February

Opera searches for love and meaning, while Vauxhall unwinds with music for all ages

La Bohème, Royal Opera House

The Handmaid's Tale, English National Opera

Tosca, Royal Opera House

Oksana Lyniv and the LPO play Dvorak, Royal Festival Hall

The Barber of Seville, English National Opera

The Protecting Veil, Barbican

Dies Irae: Patricia Kopatchinskaja & Aurora

The Magic Flute, English National Opera

The Flying Dutchman, Royal Opera House

Classical Vauxhall

Royal Opera House

English National Opera

London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra

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