Name: Sunday Afternoon Song
Start: 2024-09-15T15:00:00
Location: Wigmore Hall

London is set to become a hub of musical brilliance this season, featuring the works of Camille Saint-Saëns. From the grand finale of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall to the melodic tales at Wigmore Hall, and the majestic orchestrations at the Barbican Centre, this is an event series that promises to enthrall. Join us as we dive into a symphony of concerts celebrating the timeless genius of Saint-Saëns and his contemporaries.

Camille Saint-Saëns in London: A Musical Extravaganza Across Iconic Venues

London is set to vibrate with the musical genius of Arnold Schoenberg as the city celebrates his 150th birthday with a series of breathtaking concerts. From the enchanting performances at Wigmore Hall to the powerful renditions at Royal Albert Hall and Southbank Centre, this celebration promises an unforgettable journey through classical masterpieces. Highlights include the HarrisonParrott Foundation's homage, the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Shostakovich 5, and the riveting 'A Dark Century' at Royal Festival Hall.

London Celebrates Arnold Schoenberg's 150th Birthday with Exquisite Concerts

This fall and winter, London's musical scene is set to dazzle with a series of captivating events celebrating the genius of Kurt Weill. From the charismatic tenor at Wigmore Hall on September 15th to the festive magic of 'The Rat Pack at Christmas' at Cadogan Hall, music lovers have much to look forward to. Don't miss the grand finale with Shostakovich’s ‘Leningrad’ Symphony at the Royal Festival Hall in April, featuring Weill's stirring 'Four Walt Whitman Songs'.

Celebrate Kurt Weill in London: An Extravaganza of Song and Symphony

Get ready, London! Wigmore Hall is set to host a series of captivating events celebrating the genius of Hugo Wolf. From tenor performances and literary launches to avian-themed recitals and contemplative evenings, there's something for every classical music enthusiast. Mark your calendars and immerse yourself in the vibrant world of Hugo Wolf's compositions this fall.

Experience the Magic of Hugo Wolf: Upcoming Events at Wigmore Hall, London

Laurence Kilsby

Ella O'Neill

Wigmore Hall

Johann Sebastian Bach’s timeless art, Beethoven’s readiness to demolish the boundaries of convention and the young Schubert’s debt to Beethoven provide the threads that bind Víkingur Ólafsson’s compelling programme. The superstar Icelandic pianist follows his spellbinding performances of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Wigmore Hall in 2025, acclaimed by The Times as ‘breathtaking’ in its five-star review, with works charged with the power to beguile and, in the case of Bach’s Partita and Beethoven’s Op. 109, shock with their sheer audacity and inventive brilliance.

Víkingur Ólafsson piano

Jean-Guihen Queyras has formed a profound relationship with Bach’s towering masterwork for his instrument over many years and recorded the composer’s complete Cello Suites twice. Countless subtle details, an exquisitely fine expression of shifting emotions and a sense of effortless flow run through the French cellist’s entrancing interpretations of all six suites.

Jean-Guihen Queyras cello

Hailed by BBC Music Magazine as ‘one of the most brilliant ensembles on the early music stage today’, il Pomo d’Oro brings incendiary energy and electrifying verve to the historically informed performance of music from the Baroque and Classical periods. Named for Antonio Cesti’s eponymous opera, the period-instrument and vocal ensemble often works under the direction of its chief conductor, Maxim Emelyanychev, or its leader, Zefira Valova, to bring fresh life to everything from Handel’s operas and oratorios to the symphonies of Mozart.

il Pomo d’Oro; il Pomo d’Oro Choir

Friendship and common bonds of artistic curiosity and empathy unite the outstandingly fine players of Trio Zadig. The Paris-based ensemble, who recently received a coveted five-star review from Diapason magazine for its Mendelssohn Legacy album, opens with an impassioned miniature by Lili Boulanger before traversing two mighty four-movement works from the 1840s, Robert Schumann’s intensely romantic Piano Trio No. 1 and Felix Mendelssohn’s dramatic Piano Trio in C minor.

Trio Zadig

Tchaikovsky and Mahler, though possibly divided by cultures or language, revered and championed each other in life. Their music, unafraid to release potent feelings or ask our biggest spiritual questions, still unites us all across borders, political conflicts and war in reminding us of our souls’ shared fragility and humanity.

Alice Coote mezzo-soprano; Sergey Rybin piano

Allan Clayton and Paul Lewis marked Schubert’s birthday last season at Wigmore Hall with a performance of Winterreise deeply rooted in the work’s penetrating study of the human psyche. They turn to another great landmark of Lieder in the form of the composer’s Die schöne Müllerin, 20 songs that chart a lover’s journey from boundless hope to crushing despair.

Allan Clayton tenor; Paul Lewis piano

Mishka Rushdie Momen’s recording of works by 16th- and 17th-century English and Dutch composers, aptly titled Reformation, captured the hearts of open-minded critics and listeners. Described by The Times as ‘one of the most thoughtful and sensitive of British pianists’, she breathes fresh life and colours into works by the great French composers for harpsichord in a programme rich in spirit and expressive diversity.

Mishka Rushdie Momen piano

Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff, consummate solo artists and devoted chamber musicians, are joined by their regular partner Kiveli Dörken, founder and artistic director of the Molyvos International Music Festival on the Greek island of Lesbos. They bring two remarkable works to life, opening with Smetana’s Piano Trio in G minor, written as a memorial to the Czech composer’s young daughter, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, an impassioned elegy for the life of his late friend and frank critic, Nikolai Rubinstein.

Christian Tetzlaff violin; Tanja Tetzlaff cello; Kiveli Dörken piano

Angela Hewitt, praised by the Guardian for the ‘wonderfully controlled expressive focus’ of her artistry, and members of the Dunedin Consort form an ideal partnership with an enchanting programme to match. The Canadian pianist, having given her first UK performance on fortepiano at Wigmore Hall in 2024, returns to the instrument for two contrasting concertos, the first an emotionally stormy work from the mid-1740s, the second being one of Mozart’s most intimate compositions for keyboard and ensemble.

Angela Hewitt fortepiano; Dunedin Consort

If these ratios don’t accommodate your family group, please contact the Box Office and we'll do our very best to ensure you can book the tickets you need.

Chamber Tots

From supernatural imagery and unsettling feelings of desire to the hope in darkness of Blondel zu Marien and the deathbed scene of Abschied von der Erde, Ema Nikolovska’s recital probes a nocturnal world of shadows and complex emotions. The mezzo-soprano, an alumna of Deutsche Oper Berlin’s renowned Opera Studio, is joined by Jonathan Biss, ‘a natural musical poet’, according to Gramophone.

Ema Nikolovska mezzo-soprano; Jonathan Biss piano

Wigmore Hall’s celebration of the life and works of György Kurtág opens with an exploration of the coruscating emotions and expressive intensity of the great Hungarian composer’s Kafka Fragments. Soprano Rebecca Hardwick, whose doctoral research surveys the work’s 40 ‘fragments’, discusses their cumulative power with Toby Young, Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, ahead of her late-night performance on 18 September.

Rebecca Hardwick soprano; Toby Young speaker

The rising star tenor won first prize at the 2022 Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition and was shortlisted in the Young Singer category at the 2023 International Opera Awards.

Sunday Afternoon Song

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