Singer

EPSG:4326

Sir Simon Rattle

Munich Residence

An English Evening at Grayshott

St Luke's Church

‘Nimrod’, one of music’s most endearing tributes, lies at the heart of the ‘Enigma’ Variations, and there are many more touching portraits to unveil here. Each movement dedicated to in his own words ‘his friends pictured within’. Edward Elgar loved cryptic codes and he hid one in his most famous work – it is still to be cracked even to this day.

Cracking Elgar’s Enigma Code

The Bridgewater Hall

The legend goes that during the London premiere of Handel’s Messiah in 1743, King George II stood up at the opening of the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus, thus obligating the rest of the audience to do the same. Whether he was emotionally moved, needed to stretch his legs (or, in fact, was even in attendance at all), is debated to this day, but the tradition of standing remains. Tonight’s annual performance of the work features a quartet of celebrated international soloists, flanked by the forces of the Hallé Choir.

Messiah

'Farewell but not forever, brother dear…' When Sir Andrew Davis died in April 2024, the musical world didn’t only lose a conductor of unique energy and insight. It lost one of its most beloved and respected personalities; a man who – as Chief Conductor and Conductor Laureate of the BBC SO, and President of the BBC Symphony Chorus – was at the heart of British music for more than three decades.

Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius

Barbican Centre

This landmark year celebrates not only musical excellence and diversity but also its role in illuminating works of previously overlooked composers, reinforcing its commitment to an inclusive classical music world.

Southbank Centre: Chineke! Orchestra Celebrates a Decade

Southbank Centre

Guest conductor Sofi Jeannin takes the lead for this incredible concert, joined by soprano Hilary Cronin and baritone Roderick Williams. Royal Northern Sinfonia and Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia complete the impressive line-up.

Faure’s Requiem

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

Join outstanding British baritone Roderick Williams and conductor Andrew Manze as they explore Fauré’s poignant visions of paradise, joined by the fine voices of the SCO Chorus. Williams also embarks on the profound spiritual journey of Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs, while Ruth Gipps, a student of his, offers a pastoral idyll from the Lake District.

Fauré Requiem

Buchanan Galleries

The Usher Hall

As Hitler’s armies surrounded the city of Leningrad, and bombs rained down on a starving population, Dmitri Shostakovich sat down and – somehow – composed his Seventh Symphony. Written for massed battalions of musicians, this is music from the front line: a roar of defiance from an unbreakable city. You can hear it this afternoon conducted by Vasily Petrenko, whose recording of the piece was described by one critic as ‘devastating’. It’s a stupendous climax to a concert that’s all about struggle and resistance: whether it’s Sibelius defying Russian imperialism with a mighty hymn to his native Finland or the poet Walt Whitman’s pleas for tolerance, set to music by the exiled Kurt Weill. Singing them today is the fabulous British baritone Roderick Williams: a born communicator at the heart of a truly epic programme.

Roderick Williams

Baritone

Events

26 - 27 Sep, 2024

Sir Simon Rattle · Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Nov 22, 2024

An English Evening at Grayshott · London Mozart Players

Nov 30, 2024

Cracking Elgar’s Enigma Code · BBC Philharmonic

Dec 7, 2024

Messiah · The Hallé

Dec 13, 2024

Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius · Barbican Centre

Future and recently performed repertoire

Singer in Finlandia by Sibelius

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Baritone in Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen by Mahler

New York Philharmonic

Singer in St. Matthew Passion by Bach

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Singer in Symphony No. 7 by Shostakovich

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Singer in Four Walt Whitman Songs by Weill

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Singer in Idomeneo by Mozart

Garsington Opera

Singer in Il barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini

Garsington Opera

Baritone in Five Mystical Songs by Willams

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Baritone in Requiem by

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

About

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