City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s Centenary Concert will be streamed online on 5 September

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO PERFORM CENTENARY CONCERT IN WAREHOUSE

Saturday 5 September, 7pm
Streamed on the CBSO’s YouTube and Facebook channels
#cbso100

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has today announced that it will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its first ever concert with a landmark performance featuring the full orchestra and filmed at a production warehouse in Birmingham.

The varied programme will be conducted by former Music Director Sir Simon Rattle, who is handed the baton for this special event by the orchestra’s current Music Director, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, while she is on maternity leave. They are joined by cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and sitar player Roopa Panesar, and the performance will be presented by Birmingham-born actor Adrian Lester.

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IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC – NEWS

Seen and Heard International hopes for the happiest of outcomes for all those who are ill due to the current coronavirus pandemic. We share the optimism of those experts who hope that all those in otherwise good health will be able to resist its worst effects.

With the worldwide restrictions on travel and gatherings of significant numbers the world of classical music and many other entertainment events are currently subjected to a wave of changes, postponements, or cancellations, and it is unlikely normal recreational life will be resumed in the foreseeable future.

Seen and Heard International will continue to post reviews of concerts, operas, dance, theatre, and broadcasts for a long as we can, but bear with us if our content is not refreshed as often as readers have become used to over recent years.

We are not a listings site so if you are checking for news of whether performances have been postponed, cancelled, or might be restarting, please go direct to the websites of the venues concerned.

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St John’s Smith Square announces ‘ARTIST LAB’

SJSS’s ‘ARTIST LAB’ PROJECT

#Artistlab

The covid-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges around the world. Clearly, our first priority is everyone’s health and well-being, but an important part of this is people’s enjoyment of music and the arts. Concert halls have closed their doors and musicians are unable to work. This creates enormous pressures and challenges as people’s livelihoods are challenged and venues face an uncertain future.

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World Ballet School Day – inaugural edition 7 July 2020

World Ballet School Day

Training a new generation of dance artists

Inaugural edition Tuesday 7 July 2020 from 12 noon BST

www.worldballetschoolday.com

English National Ballet School and The Royal Ballet School are delighted to announce that they will be participating in the inaugural World Ballet School Day which will be streamed online on Tuesday 7 July from 12 noon BST.

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Rejoice with the NZSO! Live concerts return in New Zealand

New ZealandNew Zealand Ngū Kīoro … Harikoa Ake – Celebrating Togetherness: Eliza Boom (soprano), Simon O’Neill (tenor), Maisey Rika (vocals), Horomona Horo (taonga pūoro), Wellington region school choir members, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / Hamish McKeich (conductor). Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington., New Zealand. 26.6.2020. (DJB)

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Glyndebourne Festival Opera opens for a 2020 summer season

After the bad news of the cancellation of Glyndebourne’s 2020 Autumn Tour due to the ongoing uncertainty around Covid-19 comes more encouraging news that Glyndebourne will welcome back audiences for our first ever full summer season of open-air concerts and operas during July and August.  Glyndebourne Festival 2020 was forced to close following the outbreak of … Read more

Longborough Festival Opera launches podcast and extraordinary generosity of the audience

The Longborough Festival Opera has launched a podcast series that will feature conversations with many of opera’s biggest stars. For more information about LFO’s podcasts click here

The company has released four episodes to this point, with three of them focused on Wagner’s Ring cycle.

In the first, journalist Richard Bratby, Longborough music director Anthony Negus, and bass-baritone Paul Carey Jones talk about Wotan’s journey through the tetralogy.

In a second episode, Writer and librettist Sophie Rashbrook, soprano Lee Bisset, and historian Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough analyse the role of women in the cycle.

The third installment features a conversation on The Cunning Little Vixen hosted by Richard Bratby.

Finally, in the fourth installment, Opera director and librettist Sir David Pountney and Longborough’s artistic director Polly Graham delve into the comedic aspects of Wagner’s magnum opus

Longborough artistic director Polly Graham notes: ‘What we hope to achieve from this podcast is a chance to open up some of the amazing works we had programmed for 2020, and to celebrate the thinking of the artists we work with. The lockdown has been hugely challenging for the performing arts, but it has given us the opportunity to think creatively about different experiences we can still offer audiences. We miss our audiences so much and cannot wait to connect with them again through live theatre and music. In the meantime, we hope this podcast will continue to feed their imagination. We are so grateful for their continued support at such a challenging time.’

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Baritone Federico Longhi’s Rigoletto is part of Parma’s June Verdian renaissance

After the success of his debut as Conte di Luna in Il trovatore and his missed debuts (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) as Roberto Devereux at Teatro Massimo Palermo and as Nabucco at Erfurt DomStufen-Festspiele, and also his awaited return to Nice Opera House for Lucia di Lammermoor, Italian baritone Federico Longhi returns on the stage with one of most significative role of his repertoire, Rigoletto, in an extraordinary context, the Music Parc of Parma, in front of the Paganini Auditorium, home of the Philarmonic Orchestra Arturo Toscanini.

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