The Polish SZYMANOWSKI QUARTET, a former BBC New Generation ensemble, returns to the Wigmore Hall 7 January on for a coffee concert of Schubert and Mozart. They also appear on In Tune on 4 January.
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SOME OF OUR REVIEWERS CHOOSE THEIR ‘BEST OF 2017’
THE BEST OF 2017
Violinist Liza Ferschtman Celebrates Bernstein’s Centenary in 2018
Liza Ferschtman celebrates Bernstein’s centenary with recording and five-country tour
The Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman will release her 10th album on Challenge Classics in January 2018, featuring Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s ‘Symposium’ and Korngold’s Violin Concerto. The recording comes at the start of Bernstein’s centenary year. From January to June 2018 Ferschtman will give 10 performances of Bernstein’s five-movement concerto across the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the UK and USA.
THE PIANIST VALENTINA LISITSA IN CONVERSATION WITH GREGOR TASSIE
AN INTERVIEW WITH VALENTINA LISITSA
The Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa has achieved the accolade of becoming the world’s most popular classical artist since her first YouTube recital in 2007. By leading the way to finding new audiences with sensational success, Lisitsa has gained a staggering 95 million views and almost 200,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Ex Cathedra at St John’s Smith Square’s 2017 Christmas Festival
Ex Cathedra Raises a Glass, or Six, for Christmas
Later this month, leading UK choir Ex Cathedra brings the ethereal sound-scape of Ēriks Eŝenvalds’ ‘Stars’ to St John’s Smith Square as part of its ‘Christmas Music by Candlelight’ programme on 14 December. Setting a poem by Sara Teasdale, the Latvian composer’s work is scored for choir, Tibetan singing bowls and wine glasses tuned to six pitches, giving it a magical, otherworldly character.
R.I.P. IN MEMORIAM – DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY (1962-2017)
Dmitri Hvorostovsky (16 October 1962 – 22 November 2017) dies at 55
Seen and Heard-International is saddened to have heard of the death – after a courageous fight against cancer – of the wonderful Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, at much-too-early age of 55.
Spend a Penny for Grange Park Opera’s Lavatorium Rotundum
Grange Park Opera’s Spend a Penny Campaign
Phase two of the Theatre in the Woods Appeal announced
Spitalfields Music Festival 2017 in December
Spitalfields Music Festival 2017 (2 – 10 December)
Now in its 41st year, the East London festival is entering an exciting new chapter, with a reinvigorated vision for 2017 that reflects its location at the heart of one of London’s most vibrant areas. This year’s festival has been guest curated by André de Ridder, one of the most daring conductors working across genre boundaries in music today.