Name: Erika Baikoff soprano; James Baillieu pian
Start: 2024-10-27T15:00:00
Location: Wigmore Hall

This fall and winter, London brims with Tchaikovsky’s musical genius. From the romantic opera 'Eugene Onegin' at the Royal Opera House to the enchanting 'Swan Lake' and the festive 'Christmas Swing' at the Barbican, there’s something for every classical music lover. Don't miss the chance to experience these captivating performances at iconic venues across the city.

Celebrate Tchaikovsky in London: From Opera to Orchestral Brilliance

London is set to be the epicenter of classical music this year with a series of enchanting events celebrating the works of Antonín Dvořák. From the immersive BBC Concert Orchestra's rendition of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto at Southbank Centre to the evocative performances by the City of London Sinfonia, Erika Baikoff, and the Pavel Haas Quartet, there's something for every classical music aficionado. Not stopping there, the musical journey continues with esteemed performances by the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Escher String Quartet, all culminating in a grand finale with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's presentation of Symphony No. 8. Join us in this celebration of timeless music across various iconic London venues.

Experience Antonín Dvořák's Timeless Masterpieces in London

London is set to be enchanted by the timeless compositions of Edvard Grieg this fall. From the orchestral beauty of the Mill Hill Music Club and the Philharmonia Orchestra's Nordic Soundscapes series at the Southbank Centre, to Kathryn Stott's final London recital at Wigmore Hall, these events promise to deliver an extraordinary auditory experience.

Unforgettable Grieg Performances Light Up London's Musical Scene

Erika Baikoff

Wigmore Hall

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

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

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

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

Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy’s duo debut album combined works by Schubert with the spellbinding Schubert-inspired Trompe-l’œil, which they commissioned from Ukrainian composer Leonid Desyatnikov for the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival and brought to Wigmore Hall soon after. They are joined by the acclaimed Ukrainian-born tenor Bogdan Volkov, Opernwelt’s Singer of the Year 2025, and cellist Adrian Brendel, in a programme that celebrates the creative vision of a composer feted not least for his opera The Children of Rosenthal, scintillating cinema scores and Dichterliebe und -leben, a cycle of songs to the absurdist author Daniil Kharms and avantgarde poet and playwright Nikolay Oleynikov.

Pavel Kolesnikov piano; Samson Tsoy piano; Bogdan Volkov tenor; Adrian Brendel cello

Kafka Fragments, completed 40 years ago, comprises aphoristic pieces built from the composer’s collection of fragments from the writings of Franz Kafka, with their haunting imagery and searching analysis of the human condition in the face of modernity. Rebecca Hardwick and Tamsin Waley-Cohen are sure to bring out the work’s visceral theatricality and quicksilver contrasts of mood.

Rebecca Hardwick soprano; Tamsin Waley-Cohen violin

Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s second ‘breath’ of Kurtág’s Játékok, fortified with the condensed energy of Beethoven’s Bagatelles, turns to pieces inspired by everything from close friends, memorable conversations and powerful visual imagery to God’s test of Abraham’s faith and Cain’s murder of his brother, Abel.

Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano

Described by their composer as ‘pedagogical performance pieces’, György Kurtág’s Játékok (Games) has evolved from its beginnings in 1973 as a response to the spontaneity of children playing piano to become one of the most important landmarks of contemporary classical music. Pierre-Laurent Aimard, described by the Guardian as ‘the perfect guide’ to the collection’s enigmatic, exquisitely beautiful miniatures, begins his day-long journey into the work’s myriad colours and moods with the first of three deep ‘breaths’. He is joined by his former student Lorenzo Soulès, winner of the 2022 Concours International de Piano d’Orléans.

Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano; Lorenzo Soulès piano

Reflections on the nature of time and its passing, often expressed in profoundly personal pieces written in memory of deceased friends or conceived as dialogues with the past, run through the most recent books of Kurtág’s Játékok. The anthology’s latest additions include compositions written for pianino, the ‘little piano’ famously used by Chopin to create some of his Préludes. Miniatures from Robert Schumann’s Bunte Blätter collection provide playful interludes in Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s third and final ‘breath’ of Kurtág.

Quatuor Agate’s biography tells the story of how its four players joined forces to prepare for a concert that was destined never to happen. The French string quartet, inspired by the rehearsal process, overcame that initial setback to make its debut a decade ago and progress to become one of the finest among today’s young chamber groups. It pairs Haydn’s tuneful Op. 20 No. 4 with the equally melodious second of Korngold’s string quartets, written shortly before he made his first visit to Hollywood in 1933.

Quatuor Agate

Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers, first published in 1610, harnessed ancient and modern styles of sacred music to create a sublime setting of the Latin service of evening prayer. Using one voice per part and a company of ace period instrumentalists, Vox Luminis and Lionel Meunier direct their exceptional collective artistry and long experience of music from the early Baroque to the performance of one of western classical music’s richest achievements.

Vox Luminis; Lionel Meunier artistic director, bass

Grammy Award-winner Linda May Han Oh, known for her rhythmically complex, melodically enchanting music, has beguiled critics and audiences alike with her distinctive musical voice. The Malaysia-born, New York-based Australian bassist and composer returns to Wigmore Hall for a red-letter date with her regular duo partner and husband, the Cuban American artist Fabian Almazan, hailed by DownBeat for his ‘remarkable piano virtuosity’.

Linda May Han Oh jazz bass; Fabian Almazan piano

A rising star in the soprano firmament, the multi-award winning Russian-American artist brings together songs from diverse traditions, including Dvořák's seven songs composed for the German tenor Gustav Walter and Britten's cycle on Pushkin's poems composed for Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya.

Erika Baikoff soprano; James Baillieu pian

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