Name: Four Seasons by Candlelight
Start: 2024-12-29T14:30:00
Location: Barbican Centre

London is set to host a series of spectacular events that pay tribute to the timeless genius of Johann Sebastian Bach. From the innovative Martin Fröst Family Trio at Wigmore Hall to the Berliner Barock Solisten's complete keyboard concertos at the Barbican Centre, Bach enthusiasts are in for a treat. Highlights include the dance-based programme by Martin Fröst, the Scandinavian-flavored Lodestar Trio, Will Gregory’s retro-futurist Moog Ensemble, and the final London recital of pianist Kathryn Stott. Experience the grandeur of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, the evocative Four Seasons by Candlelight, Simon Johnson's Advent journey, Jonathan Plowright's refined pianism, and a night of Baroque hits with Julia Bullock and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Unmissable Bach Performances in London: A Celebration of Baroque Masterpieces

Embark on an unforgettable musical journey this season across London's iconic venues, where the timeless compositions of Antonio Vivaldi will take center stage. From the orchestral grandeur of the London Mozart Players at the Mill Hill Music Club to the candle-lit enchantment of 'Four Seasons by Candlelight' at the Barbican Centre, there's a Vivaldi event to captivate every classical music enthusiast. Join us as we explore a rich tapestry of concerts, each celebrating the Baroque virtuoso in a unique and compelling way.

Experience Vivaldi's Masterpieces Across London's Iconic Venues

London is set to host a spectacular array of events celebrating the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. From Clare Hammond's stunning piano performance at Wigmore Hall to the orchestral grandeur of 'Mozart & Haydn: Sturm und Drang' at Cadogan Hall, there's something for every classical music lover. Don't miss the enchanting 'Four Seasons by Candlelight' at the Barbican Centre, or the delightful 'Marriage of Figaro' at the London Coliseum. Mark your calendars for these unforgettable musical experiences!

Experience Mozart Magic in London: A Series of Unmissable Events

This season, London is set to be graced with a spectacular lineup of events celebrating the timeless works of George Frideric Handel. From the grandeur of 'Messiah' performed at the Royal Albert Hall to innovative renditions at Wigmore Hall and Smith Square Hall, music lovers are in for a treat. Join us as we explore these extraordinary performances that highlight Handel's enduring legacy.

Handel's Masterpieces Illuminate London: A Seasonal Celebration

This autumn and winter, London is set to become a haven for lovers of Baroque music, with a series of enchanting performances featuring the works of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. From the dramatic transformation in 'Actéon' at Milton Court Concert Hall to the festive melodies of 'Noëls sur les instruments H534' and 'In nativitatem Domini nostri Jesu Christi canticum' at Wigmore Hall, there's something for every classical music enthusiast. Don't miss out on these mesmerizing events that promise to transport you to a world of beauty and emotion.

Experience the Magic of Charpentier in London: A Series of Captivating Performances

Harriet Eyley

David Juritz

David Blackadder

Barbican Centre

People, performers and beautiful objects move, scatter and rearrange themselves in this endearing, immersive production that invites little ones to reflect, touch and interact.

Univers

Ruggero is young and wealthy, with his whole life before him. Magda is beautiful, worldly and wise – surely too wise to fall in love all over again? But amid the delights of belle-époque Paris, romance can be as intoxicating as champagne – and the heart, as they say, has its own reasons. In Puccini’s opera La rondine, they’ve never sounded sweeter.

Puccini's 'La rondine'

In a career spanning multiple genres with recordings from complete operas and song recitals to indie rock and jazz, Renée Fleming is known for bringing new audiences to classical music and opera.

Renée Fleming in Recital

Through live, semi-improvised performance, musicians from The Hermes Experiment will interact with sonic essays and interventions by Monthati Masebe (South Africa), Kathy Hinde (UK), Sandeep Bhagwati (India/Germany), Bint Mbareh (Palestine) and Martha Hincapié Charry (Colombia), each sharing their perspective on the climate crisis. Under the musical direction of Sandeep Bhagwati, these perspectives, symbolized as 'islands,' are connected into a unified call for action, the 'mighty river.'

Instead of Many Islands, Let Us Be a Mighty River

The programme combines settings of the Song of Songs and its evocation of a luscious, fertile landscape by Spanish composers of the Renaissance, such as Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla and Tomás Luis de Victoria, with the beauty of Britten’s Five Flower Songs, alongside two new commissions from Leo Chadburn and Amy Bryce.

The Marian Consort: The Language of Flowers

Milton Court Concert Hall

Director Prasanna Puwanarajah revives his ‘inspired and spellbinding’ (The Stage) production, iconically designed by James Cotterill, which sees Samuel West (Malvolio), Freema Agyeman (Olivia), and Michael Grady-Hall (Feste) reprising their critically acclaimed performances.

Twelfth Night

Completed in 1936, Dona nobis pacem is scored for choir, vocal soloists and orchestra. A call for peace, the cantata draws on Vaughan Williams’ own experiences of war, and eyes the impending cataclysm. It’s emotionally direct: passionate, anguished and, at times, almost unbearably beautiful.

London Symphony Orchestra: Half Six Fix – Vaughan Williams

Taking in the nation’s favourite Christmas Carols, alongside depictions of John Masefield’s classic The Box of Delights, Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree, Chekhov’s At Christmas Time and the lesser-known masterpiece of Charles Dickens, Doctor Marigold.

A Christmas Odyssey

Described by the Guardian as 'a top-ranking virtuoso', Volodos opens this performance with Schubert’s Sonata in A major D959, written during the last months of the composer’s life. He follows this with Robert Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, whose theme is based on a mazurka by Clara Wieck – the composer whom he would eventually marry. Lastly, Volodos will perform his own arrangement of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No 13.

Arcadi Volodos in Recital

Sing hallelujah! Handel’s Messiah isn’t just a seasonal fixture. It’s one of those pieces that transcends time, place and culture; singing of humanity – and hope – ever since the mid-18th century. Ev’ry Valley, For Unto Us a Child is Born, I Know that My Redeemer Liveth… you already know the tunes. With Laurence Cummings directing AAM, they’ll sound as if the ink has hardly dried.

Handel's Messiah

When Sir James MacMillan completes a new choral work the world takes notice, because few living composers write with more conviction or imaginative fire. “We need this music right now” wrote The Spectator after the world premiere of his Christmas Oratorio in 2021, and this epic work finds both strangeness and splendour in the most familiar of sacred stories.

MacMillan's Christmas Oratorio

Led by the inimitable Jonathan Cohen and featuring West End star Louise Dearman, this joyous singalong is packed with festive favourites, timeless classics, and all the carols you love to sing. Bring the whole family and bask in the warmth, wonder, and magic of live music at Christmas.

Christmas Carol Singalong

The verve and virtuosity of the 18th century is brought to life in this enchanting concert staged in a candle-lit style setting with an evocative programme crowned by Vivaldi’s sublime masterpiece.

Four Seasons by Candlelight

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