February in the musical world is not only about romantic concertos for Valentine’s Day. Rather, it’s about new beginnings, green shoots, and fresh thoughts. As the nights get shorter, why not spend some of them exploring something you’ve never heard before?, reports BritPanorama.
Across the country, there are opportunities to hear one of our greatest contemporary composers as he approaches his 100th birthday; a new opera about the artist Hokusai; the magnificent Bryn Terfel incarnating a tsar who is losing his grip on reality; and much, much more. Happy listening!
Boris Godunov
Royal Opera House, London
29 January – 18 February
The tsar is losing his grip on reality, his past is coming back to haunt him, and the vultures are circling. Boris Godunov, the operatic masterpiece of the late-romantic composer Modest Mussorgsky, set in medieval Russia, is always relevant to something somewhere in the world. This revival of Richard Jones’s acclaimed production offers two unbroken hours of heady, hefty music, full of roof-raising choruses and peculiarly timeless politics. Mark Wigglesworth conducts, and the great bass-baritone Bryn Terfel reprises his star turn in the title role.
Così Fan Tutte, English National Opera
Coliseum, London, and Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
6-21 February, then 27-28 February
Mozart’s troubling yet seductive comic opera returns to English National Opera, reviving the production by Phelim McDermott which transposes the action to the Coney Island funfair in the 1950s. This staging is much loved for its sheer froth and fun, qualities that have been in short supply recently; expect a good complement of fire-eaters, acrobats, and other funfair standouts. A delectable cast includes Lucy Crowe, Taylor Raven, Joshua Blue, and Darwin Prakash forming the two sets of lovers – faithful and otherwise – with the spirited soprano Ailish Tynan as their maid-and-puppet-master Despina, and Dinis Sousa conducting.
Classical Mixtape: A Live Takeover
Southbank Centre, London
5 February
This one-off event is expected to entice both the Southbank’s regular audience and newcomers. For two and a half hours from 7 pm, 200 musicians from six of the arts centre’s resident orchestras will perform a 20-minute programme on repeat across various spaces. Expect the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony or music from Lord of the Rings, alongside the Chineke! Orchestra and the Philharmonia’s offering, which culminates in Holst’s The Planets.
The Great Wave, Scottish Opera
Theatre Royal, Glasgow and Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
12-14 February, then 19 and 21 February
A new opera about the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai and the creation of his woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa receives its world premiere in Glasgow by Scottish Opera, which co-commissioned it. With music by one of today’s leading Japanese composers, Dai Fujikura, and a libretto by the Scottish writer Harry Ross, the opera explores Hokusai’s creative world and his relationship with his daughter.
Fujikura is a powerful and versatile musical voice whose work crosses genres, from operas to film and TV scores. Satoshi Miyagi directs the co-production with the Japanese arts organisation Kajimoto. Baritone Daisuke Ohyama takes the role of Hokusai, while Julieth Lozano Rolong plays his daughter Ōi. Steuart Bedford conducts.
Kurtág at 100
CBSO Centre, Birmingham
12 February
György Kurtág, a long-standing giant of Hungarian music and mentor to generations of young musicians, is approaching his 100th birthday, and musical organisations are ready to mark the occasion. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra joins forces with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group to introduce his quirky, mercurial music, known for its unpredictability.
Musicologist Paul Griffiths will guide an evening featuring extracts from Signs, Games and Messages, Játékok (Games), Ligatura – Message to Frances-Marie (The answered-unanswered question), and compositions by Kurtág’s beloved Bach. On 1 March, a further tribute will take place in London featuring the Philharmonia and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson.
Ice and Fire
Barbican, London
18 February-21 March
A Total Immersion project across seven events at the Barbican celebrates music inspired by Iceland’s unique environment. This series explores themes of mystique linked to the country’s remoteness and extreme elements.
Performances will feature the London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO) and BBC Symphony Orchestra, along with celebrated film composer Hildur Guðnadóttir participating in her newest project. Events will include movie screenings, particularly the BBC 2015 documentary Iceland: Land of Ice and Fire, complemented by discussions. The opening event will see the LCO perform Cinematic Suites by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, including music from The Theory of Everything.
