Festival 2024 – Page 23 – Seen and Heard International

Nadine Benjamin and Jan Karl Rautio make perfect musical partners at the Thaxted Festival

03/08/202425/06/2024 by Colin Clarke

United Kingdom Thaxted Festival 2024 [1] – Liszt, Hall, Verdi, Puccini: Nadine Benjamin (soprano), Jan Karl Rautio (piano). Thaxted Parish Church, Essex, 22.6.2024. (CC)

Nadine Benjamin and Jan Karl Rautio after their recital at Thaxted © Bertille Cascio

Francesca Tiburzi a striking and memorable Tosca at The Grange Festival 2024

03/08/202424/06/2024 by Chris Kettle

United Kingdom The Grange Festival 2024 – Puccini, Tosca: Soloists, The Grange Festival Chorus (chorus master: William Vann), The Grange Festival Children’s Chorus (chorus master: David Hall), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Francesco Cilluffo (conductor). The Grange, Hampshire 21.6.2024. (CK)

The Grange Festival 2024 *Tosca –* Andrés Presno (Cavaradossi) © Craig Fuller

Garsington Opera’s new A Midsummer Night’s Dream, though atmospheric, lacks an overall concept

03/08/202424/06/2024 by Curtis Rogers

United Kingdom Garsington Opera 2024 [3] – Britten, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Soloists, Garsington Opera Youth Company, Philharmonia Orchestra / Douglas Boyd (conductor). Garsington Opera at Wormsley, 21.6.2024. (CR)

Lucy-Crowe (Tytania) and Richard Burkhard (Bottom) © Craig Fuller

At the end of the Metropolitan Line: sublime midsummer chamber music from Paul Lewis and friends

03/08/202420/06/2024 by Christopher Sallon

United Kingdom Midsummer Music Festival 2024: St Mary’s Church, Amersham. 8.6.2024. (CSa)

Outstanding music-making in the opening concert of Chicago’s 2024 Grant Park Music Festival

03/08/202419/06/2024 by James Zychowicz

United States Grant Park Music Festival [1] – Elgar, Holst: Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Lauren Decker (contralto), Grant Park Music Festival Chorus and Orchestra / Carlos Kalmar (conductor). Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago, 15.6.2024. (JLZ)

Carlos Kalmar conducts contralto Lauren Decker in Holst’s *The Cloud Messenger* © Charles Osgood

Haydn’s The Seasons in Dresden had an essentially sunlit disposition

03/08/202406/06/2024 by Michael Cookson

Germany Dresden Music Festival 2024 [11] – Haydn, The Seasons (Die Jahreszeiten): Lina Johnson (soprano, Hanne), Tilman Lichdi (tenor, Lukas), Matthias Winckhler (bass-baritone, Simon), La Capella Nacional de Catalunya, Le Concert des Nations / Jordi Savall (conductor). Kulturpalast Dresden, 30.5.2024. (MC)

[front l-r] Lina Johnson (soprano), Jordi Savall (conductor), Tilman Lichdi (tenor), and Matthias Winckhler (baritone) © Oliver Killig

At Dresden’s Frauenkirche soprano Jeanine De Bique soared to great heights

03/08/202404/06/2024 by Michael Cookson

United Kingdom Dresden Music Festival 2024 [10] – ‘Mirrors’ (music by Handel, Graun, Vinci, Telemann, Broschi): Jeanine De Bique (soprano), Concerto Köln / Evgeny Sviridov (concertmaster). Frauenkirche, Dresden, 29.5.2024. (MC)

Jeanine De Bique (soprano) and Concerto Köln © Stephan Floss

Hooray for Hollywood and highly satisfying Tchaikovsky from Hope, Vogler and the DSO Berlin in Dresden

03/08/202404/06/2024 by Michael Cookson

Germany Dresden Music Festival 2024 [9] – Price, Rózsa, Williams, Rózsa and Tchaikovsky: Daniel Hope (violin), Jan Vogler (cello), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Anna Rakitina (conductor). Frauenkirche, Dresden, 28.5.2024. (MC)