Paul Riley picks the month’s best concert and opera highlights in the UK
Ustinov Opera
Ustinov Studio, Bath, 1-23 December theatreroyal.org.uk
Artistic director Deborah Warner curates an eye-catching programme for Bath Theatre Royal’s intimate Ustinov Studio. Tenor Ian Bostridge and mezzo Christine Rice have graced the autumn line-up, which culminates in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, a gripping operatic take on Henry James’s novella. Richard Hetherington directs a new production by Isabelle Kettle.
Hespèrion XXI
Wigmore Hall, London, 1 December wigmore-hall.org.uk
Jordi Savall’s adventurous period instrument ensemble has explored everything from medieval rarities to Romantic blockbusters – reserving a special relish for west-eastern encounters. As the 400th anniversary year nears its end, Byrd is at the heart of an English programme featuring Tye, Holborne, Dowland and Gibbons.
Ulster Orchestra
Ulster Hall, Belfast, 1 December ulsterorchestra.org.uk
Schumann’s ‘Rhenish’ Symphony aside, there’s a pronounced Hungarian flavour as conductor Elena Schwarz pairs Dohnányi’s dance-inspired Symphonic Minutes with Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The soloist is Vadym Kholodenko.
Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Friends
Purcell Room, London, 2, 3 December southbankcentre.co.uk
Kopatchinskaja consigns her violin to its case with two performances of Schoenberg’s melodrama Pierrot Lunaire. Assembling her own ensemble, she tackles the daringly expressionistic vocal part which deploys Sprechstimme (spoken voice) to enrich Giraud’s vividly imagined poems.
Quatuor Ébène
John Innes Centre, Norwich, 2 December norwichchambermusic.org.uk
Schubert’s major-minor-obsessed string quartet swansong – the G major D887 – supplies the climax to Quatuor Ébène’s return visit to Norwich. G minor Haydn (Op. 20 No. 3) raises the curtain, and in between comes the most compact of Bartók’s six string quartets: the Third.
BBC Philharmonic
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 2 December bridgewater-hall.co.uk
Inspired by the ever-changing colours of Senegal’s Lake Retba, Tippett’s The Rose Lake was the last major work he completed – and was premiered shortly after his 90th birthday. Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, it prefaces music from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel plus Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8.
The English Concert
Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, 2 December saffronhall.com
Having announced an ambitious project to r
