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Top 10 events in London
- Richard Alston Dance Company and National Dance Company of Wales - Richard Alston Dance Company perform's Alston's most recent work Unfinished Business, to a rarely heard Mozart piece - two beautiful movements of an unfinished Mozart Piano Sonata (Op. K533), played live. Mozart composed his K.533 late in his short life, only four years before he died. It comprises of two sublime and profoundly beautiful movements - an Allegro which flows in an unending lyrical stream and a starker, more troubled Andante - dark, brooding, questioning. National Dance Company of Wales perform esteemed American choreographer Stephen Petronio's By Singing Light. The work uses the poetry of Dylan Thomas, whose graceful and powerful words portray a rich human passion that is sharply spiked with Thomas' personal doubts and insecurities as an artist. Composer Son Lux used Dylan Thomas' poems In My Craft or Sullen Art and an extract from Lament together with Mansel Thomas' mixed choir arrangements of Welsh folksongs, Ar lan y môr and Pe cawn i hon to create the score. These provide a harmonic backbone for the music. 4 February. www.southbankcentre.co.uk
- Bennewitz Quartet - Haydn, Schnittke and Dvorák - The Prague-based Bennewitz Quartet returns to Wigmore Hall with a strikingly imaginative programme, opening with a musical joke and concluding with a profound masterwork. While Dvorák’s Op. 106 explores vibrant emotional and musical contrasts, Alfred Schnittke weaves together fragments borrowed from other composers in his Third String Quartet with which to draw listeners deep into the work’s concentrated soundworld. Schnittke’s score, complete with loud echoes of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, has entered the chamber music repertoire since its first performance almost three decades ago. 4 February. www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
- Circue de Soleil: Totem - Tens of thousands were blown away by the record breaking run of shows in 2011 in which the mesmerising Cirque du Soleil displayed a fascinating journey into the evolution of mankind. Inspired by founding myths, this spectacular production traces the journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly. Until 5 February. www.royalalberthall.com
- Marc-André Hamelin - Haydn - Since making his London debut 20 years ago with a mesmerising performance of Alkan’s Concerto for solo piano, Marc-André Hamelin has fashioned a deep impression on the capital’s music scene with his exceptional virtuosity, heroic artistry and innovative programming. The Canadian pianist’s latest repertoire adventure spans almost two centuries of creative history and, in the case of Liszt’s B minor Sonata, a seemingly infinite emotional range. It also highlights points of contact and contrast between the convention defying harmonic turns of Haydn’s Sonata in E minor, the kaleidoscopic tonal shifts of Stockhausen’s Klavierstück IX and Villa Lobos’s pioneering Rudepoema. 6 February. www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
- Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra - The Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra currently ranks among the finest symphonic ensembles in Russia, receiving frequent invitations to perform in countries around the world. We are delighted to welcome them to Cadogan Hall, where they perform some of the best-loved music written by Russia’s most popular composers. Conductor Valery Poliansky is joined by his daughter Tatiana in Rachmaninov’s richly romantic Second Piano Concerto, one of the composer’s enduringly popular pieces. The evening opens with Tchaikovsky’s sparkling Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, and closes with Rimsky-Korsakov’s colourful and exotic symphonic suite, based on Arabian Nights. 7 February. www.cadoganhall.com
- Jazz in the Crypt: The Delta Boys - The Delta Boys features heavyweight horns, a tight rhythm section and an inspirational guest vocalist. 8 February. www.smitf.org
- Vivaldi Four Seasons and Gloria by Candlelight - Brandenburg Spring Choral Festival - English Baroque with Jeremy Jackman - Conductor. Programme includes Vivaldi - Gloria in D and Vivaldi - Four Seasons. 10 February. www.smitf.org
- Frustration (Frustra-Azioni) - Dario D'Ambrosi is one of Italy's leading performance artists and the founder of the theatrical school for the mentally ill called teatro patologico. He comes to London for the first time bringing to Wilton’s his classic one-man show Frustration (Frustra-Azioni). Based on a true story from 1920, it depicts the obsessed schizophrenic personality of a butcher who imagines himself a male cow, wears a minotaur mask, and pursues offbeat bovine erotic fantasies! The shows are augmented with screenings of his astute films exploring mental illness. From 8 February until 11 February. www.wiltons.org.uk
- Richard Goode - Acclaimed as 'unmissable' by The Guardian, Richard Goode's recitals have been delighting audiences on both sides of the Atlantic for many years. 'Goode's special gift has always been his selfless artistry - his penetrating intellect, warm heart and nimble fingers are entirely placed at the composers' service' (The Times). His visit promises to be a series highlight this year. His programme focuses on the compelling works of Schumann and Chopin. First there's Schumann's ever-popular Kinderszenen (Scenes of Childhood) and the piano cycle Kreisleriana, a work of contrasting sections inspired by the brilliant imagination of the German Romantic writer ETA Hoffmann. The second half is devoted to a variety of works by Chopin. 12 February. www.southbanklondon.com
- Cosi Fan Tutte - Cosí fan Tutte. It's Italian for "All women do it". And that doesn't just mean buying shoes. Two very modern ladies are both convinced they've found The One. They've even saved their fiancés' pictures in their iPhones to prove it. Then the guys are suddenly called off to a war zone and OMG - two handsome strangers turn up out of nowhere. The new arrivals are definitely interested. The girls are tempted. But hello? Isn't there something a bit familiar about them? Treat yourselves to a sophisticated evening out, complete with comic disguises, erotic intrigue and Mozart's wonderful music. Plus a surprisingly recognisable setting, where must-have gadgets and hot chocolate to go are all part of the drama. Until 13 February. Buy tickets
- Camerata Salzburg - One of the world’s most highly regarded chamber orchestras, the Camerata Salzburg comes to Cadogan Hall to perform an all-Mozart programme. Founded over 50 years ago, the ensemble is steeped in musical tradition whilst consisting of today’s brightest young, motivated musicians who, according to the Swiss neue Zürcher Zeitung 'play with a commitment and a joy in music-making which is infectious...' 30-year-old violinist Hilary Hahn is a two-time Grammy Award winner, celebrated for her probing interpretations, technical brilliance, and spellbinding stage presence. Together with the Camerata this concert is an energetic and sparkling exploration of Mozart’s music. 13 February. www.cadoganhall.com
- Mark Padmore and Paul Lewis - Schubert Winterreise - In the early months of 1827, Schubert’s friends were profoundly disturbed by the composer’s agitated condition while creating what he succinctly described as a ‘cycle of awe-inspiring songs’. Winterreise examines suicidal despair through the prism of a great artist’s imagination. 14 February. www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
- Katherine Jenkins - Katherine Jenkins was the biggest selling classical artist of 2004. This is not surprising, given that she is the first mezzo-soprano to break the top 20 pop charts and the only artist ever to have scored two number one albums in the classical charts in the same year. 16 February. Buy tickets
- Flamenco Festival London - An annual feature of the international dance calendar, the Flamenco Festivalbrings the world’s greatest flamenco talents to the capital for two very special weeks. This year’s highlights include Antonio Gades Company performingFuenteovejuna, an Andalusian folk-dance-drama boasting stunning ensemble sequences, beautiful period costumes and jaw-dropping dance. Another unmissable show comes in the form Rafael Amargo’s Poet in New York. Previously nominated for an Olivier Award for his take on Zorro, rebel of the Flamenco world, Amargo’s Poet in New York is a multimedia extravaganza inspired by Lorca that has wowed international critics and been described as “in a class by itself” (New York Times). From 7 February until 19 February. www.sadlerswells.com
- Akram Khan - DESH - Sadler’s Wells is thrilled to present the return of Akram Khan’s contemporary solo work, DESH, which was lavished with praise after its world premiere in 2011 and a blockbuster run here. DESH, meaning "homeland" in Bengali, is Khan’s most personal work to date. It draws on multiple tales of land, nation, resistance and convergence into the body and voice of one man trying to find his balance in an unstable world. Moving between Britain and Bangladesh, Khan weaves threads of memory, experience and myth into a surreal world of surprising connection. At once intimate and epic, DESH explores fragility in the face of natural forces and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. From 21 February until 25 February. www.sadlerswells.com
- Faust Silent Film screeening with Philharmonia Orchestra - As a new silent film, The Artist, is being applauded by critics and seems to be heading for 2012 Oscars success, Southbank Centre is proud to announce a unique cinematic and musical event - a special film screening of the epic silent masterpiece Faust. This special screening features the Philharmonia Orchestra performing the worldwide premiere of Aphrodite Raickopoulou's new soundtrack score. They are conducted by Emmy Award winner Benjamin Wallfisch, with live piano improvisations by Gabriela Montero. This epic masterpiece is introduced with a foreword by the highly acclaimed British actor Hugh Grant. 27 February. www.southbanklondon.com
- The Instrumental Quintet of London - Programme includes Quintette op 2 J M Damase, Quartet in C KV 285b flute and string trio W A Mozart, Trio in C minor op 9 string trio L van Beethoven, Sonate en trio flute, viola and harp C Debussy and Concert à Cinque J Jongen. 28 February. www.musicandmediaconsulting.com
- Peter Donohoe - The ever popular British pianist Peter Donohoe first shot to fame in 1982 when he was a prizewinner at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and is noted for his performances of Liszt. His programme centres on the composer's entrancing evocations of Swiss landscape and legends from the Années de Pèlerinage. This is complemented by a set of late pieces by Brahms, plus two powerfully influential composers, Bartók and Debussy, both of whom Liszt's music anticipates. 28 February. www.southbanklondon.com
- La nozze di Figaro - Mozart's ‘upstairs, downstairs' opera is full of amorous intrigue, plotting, counterplotting, love and forgiveness and is one of the great theatrical works of all time. The magnetic Erwin Schrott stars as the cunning servant Figaro - and this Figaro is out to make sure that the Count, his master, dances to his tune, and renounces his claim on Figaro's beautiful fiancée Susanna. To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Royal Opera mounts a new production of his setting of the second of Beaumarchais' domestic but politically charged Figaro comedies, as adapted by librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. From 11 February until 2 March. Buy tickets
- The Death of Klinghoffer - Following highly successful productions of John Adams’s Nixon in China and Doctor Atomic, ENO presents the London stage premiere of the American composer’s controversial ‘docu-opera’ about the killing of a Jewish-American tourist during the hijacking of a Mediterranean cruise liner by Palestinian militants. Alice Goodman’s eloquently poetic and dispassionately even-handed libretto mixes Biblical and Koranic references with real and imagined accounts of what happened on board. Adams’s intensely expressive score captures the private thoughts and emotions of individuals caught up in the complexities of a political and religious conflict that still defies solution. More of a meditation in the style of a Bach Passion than a conventional operatic drama, the result is an utterly compelling and unique piece of theatre. Tom Morris, co-director of the National Theatre’s War Horse, makes his opera directing debut, while Baldur Brönnimann, who conducted ENO’s Lost Highway and Le Grand Macabre, applies his contemporary expertise to what many regard as Adams’s finest opera. From 25 February until 9 March. www.eno.org
- Nederlands Dans Theater - Founded in 1978 for dancers between 17 and 23, Nederlands Dans Theater 2 is one of the world’s most popular contemporary dance groups. After wowing Sadler’s Wells audiences with their performances here in 2010 to celebrate NDT’s 50th anniversary, they are back to present an exciting mixed bill including Jiří Kylián’s award-winning Gods and Dogs, and NDT2 Associate Artist Alexander Ekman’s Cacti. From 6 March until 9 March. www.sadlerswells.com
- Aida - For this entirely new staging, distinguished director Stephen Medcalf, with set and costumes designed by the renowned Isabella Bywater, will recreate a world of eternal love within the ruins of Ancient Egypt. Staged in-the-round, the action will unfold in the very heart of the Royal Albert Hall. This epic work explores the devastating consequences of a classic love triangle between Aida the Ethiopian slave girl, the King's daughter, Amneris, and Captain of the Guard, Radames. Culminating with the final entombment as the opera draws to its tragic close, this intense drama gave Verdi the perfect opportunity to compose some of his most poignant arias and powerful music. Celeste Aida, the great tenor aria for Radames, Aida's passionate solo Ritorna Vincitorand the beautiful final trio, O Terra Adio with the lovers trapped underground whilst Amneris laments above, are just some of the great highlights that also include the famous Triumphal Grand March. An international cast will be accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestraconducted by Andrew Greenwood and the opera will be sung in Italian with English surtitles. From 23 February until 11 March. www.royalalberthall.com
- Rusalka - Rusalka has its first ever staging by The Royal Opera in a production new to the Company. The tragic story of the water nymph who longs to walk on the ground as a human draws on the richness of Czech mythology – a prince, a princess, a water goblin and a witch are the other main characters, mixing the supernatural and the mortal. Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito’s contemporary interpretation sets the opera in a seedy backstreet world of today to throw into sharp relief the dark wit and darker emotions of the opera’s story of love, desire and despair. Rusalka’s ‘Song to the Moon’ may be a favourite popular classic, but it is just one of many lovely vocal melodies in a richly Romantic score with the Czech folk inflections characteristic of Dvořák’s music. From 27 February until 14 March. Buy tickets
- English National Ballet 2 - My First Sleeping Beauty has been created especially for a family audience. Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous waltz-filled score and the sumptuous Nicholas Georgiadis costumes will transport children to an enchanted world of castles and curses, forests and fairies. The My First... ballets by English National Ballet in partnership with English National Ballet School bring audiences their first taste of ballet through the magic of fairytales, captivating music and beautiful dance. My First Sleeping Beauty is created by award-winning choreographer and former Royal Ballet Soloist Matthew Hart. He has created pieces for classical companies in the UK and abroad and previous work includes the witty and inventive children’s ballet Peter and the Wolf for The Royal Ballet School in 1995, which was revived in 2010 for the Royal Opera House. From 3 April until 13 April. www.sadlerswells.com
- Il Divo - Il Divo's voices and unique operatic arrangements have spearheaded an entire musical genre over the past 7 years and now the world’s foremost classical crossover group are back with a new album and world tour, including their first ever live shows at the Hall. 17 & 18 April. www.royalalberthall.com
- The Flying Dutchman - Last year’s performances of Wagner’s final opera, Parsifal, were hailed as ‘a staging that is as good as any Wagner seen in London in the last 20 years’ (The Guardian). Now ENO presents his earliest masterpiece, The Flying Dutchman, in a new production by Jonathan Kent, formerly at London’s cutting-edge Almeida Theatre and now a successful opera director in demand from Santa Fe to St Petersburg. Edward Gardner, ENO’s Olivier Award-winning Music Director, conducts his first Wagner opera. American bass James Creswell (Timur in 2009’s Turandot) stars as the legendary ship’s captain fated to sail the seas for ever, with Orla Boylan – a ‘radiant’ (Independent on Sunday) Sieglinde in 2004’s The Valkyrie – as Senta, the girl sent to save him. From 28 April until 23 May. www.eno.org
- Tragedy in Leicester Square - Stand Up Tragedy is a new monthly part cabaret, part variety show at Leicester Square Theatre. This new night features great performers who will make you sad, make you think and make you smile. Expect music, comedy, true stories and more, all playing up to the tragic form but not taking it too seriously. The night will end, not with a whimper, not with a bang, but with a cathartic sing-a-long. The show dates are 6th February, 5th March, 2nd April, 7th May, and 4th June. http://standuptragedy.co.uk/
