Name: New Year's Day Proms
Start: 2025-01-01T15:00:00
Location: Barbican Centre

London is set to host a series of breathtaking concerts and operas celebrating the legendary Georges Bizet, with highlights including the Westminster School Orchestral Concert, New Year's Day Proms, Sketches of Spain, Bizet’s Carmen Symphony, and the much-anticipated return of 'Carmen' at the Royal Opera House. From the iconic Carmen Suites to the fiery passion of operatic performances, these events promise an unforgettable musical journey.

Celebrating Bizet: A Year of Spectacular Performances in London

London is the place to be for Edward Elgar enthusiasts this season! From the serene choral works of The Sixteen at Royal Albert Hall to the grandeur of the Last Night of the Proms, there's something for every classical music lover. Don't miss the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano, the youthful energy of the London Schools Symphony Orchestra, or the intimate chamber music of the Nash Ensemble. Cap off the year with the New Year's Day Proms and explore the enigma of Elgar's Variations at Cadogan Hall and Southbank Centre.

Celebrate Edward Elgar: Must-See Musical Events in London

Join us in London for a series of captivating musical events featuring the works of Gustav Holst. From the London Symphony Orchestra’s cosmic journey through The Planets to enchanting Christmas carols at Wigmore Hall, this season promises unforgettable experiences. Highlights include Sir Antonio Pappano's debut with the LSO, Elgar’s Violin Concerto performed by Vilde Frang, and festive celebrations with Tenebrae and the Southbank Sinfonia. Don't miss out on these exceptional performances at iconic venues like the Barbican Centre, Smith Square Hall, and more.

Musical Masterpieces in London: Celebrating Gustav Holst and More

London is about to be swept off its feet by the musical genius of Giuseppe Verdi! From the Royal Opera House's stirring 'La traviata' and 'Aida' to the English National Opera's gripping 'Rigoletto' at the London Coliseum, Verdi's masterpieces will dominate the city's cultural scene. Don't miss Mark Bebbington's piano recital at Wigmore Hall, the celebratory New Year's Day Proms at the Barbican Centre, and the epic 'Il trovatore.' Plus, Opera North brings the riveting 'Simon Boccanegra' to venues across Bradford, Gateshead, Hull, Liverpool, London, and Nottingham. Get ready for an unforgettable experience!

Celebrate Giuseppe Verdi: Unmissable Performances Across London and Beyond

London's opera scene is set to dazzle audiences with a series of captivating performances of Giacomo Puccini's timeless works. From the gripping drama of 'Tosca' at the Royal Opera House to the emotional depth of 'La bohème' at the London Coliseum, and the melodic beauty of 'La rondine' at the Barbican Centre, there's something for everyone. Join us as we explore these iconic productions and the rich musical heritage of Puccini.

Experience Giacomo Puccini's Masterpieces in London: An Operatic Journey

Anthony Inglis

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

Each ticket entitles you to one complimentary drink. Have your ticket scanned at any of Barbican’s bars on Level G or Level -1 for one single 175ml measure of house wine, 330ml bottle of standard beer, or standard soft drink, subject to our bars' stocks. Valid only on Wed 1 Jan 2025.

New Year's Day Proms

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