Rest of the World
Sydney Festival
Sydney, 6-26 January Tel: +61 02 8248 6500 Web: www.sydneyfestival.org.au
After what it coyly describes as a ‘challenging year’, Sydney Festival is back, and all about ‘recovering, reconnecting communities, and reinvigorating Australia’s arts’. That’s something it’s been doing exuberantly for nearly half a century. The musical content time-travels a millennium: at one end exploring the multi-faceted achievements of Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, at the other commissioning new works addressing contemporary issues. ‘The (Uncertain) Four Seasons’ unites Vivaldi with Australian composers, designers and scientists; and Sydney Chamber Opera presents Janá ek’s The Diary of One who Disappeared alongside a new companion work by Huw Belling. A ‘Salons Series’ brings chamber intimacy to city-wide venues; and for sheer indulgence there’s the supersized sonic allure of 12 Hands 6 Grands: a Bach-to-benjamin keyboard cornucopia involving six pianists and six pianos devised by pianist Piers Lane.
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Hall, Shanghai, 27, 29, 31 January Tel: +86 4008 212 522 Web: www.shsymphony.com
In a belated salute to Beethoven year, Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman makes one of his relatively rare public appearances, joining the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to perform a cycle of the legendary composer’s complete piano concertos.
Long Yu conducts.
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
Suntory Hall, Tokyo, 24 February Tel: +81 0570 55 0017 Web: www.tpo.or.jp/en/
The orchestra’s honorary music director Myung-whun Chung conducts Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, a work seven years in the making and capped by its great finale inspired by Klopstock. Mezzo-soprano Etsuko Kano sings the poignant ‘Urlicht’ movement.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Hamer Hall, Melbourne, 26, 27 February, 1 March Tel: +61 03 9929 9600 Web: www.mso.com.au
Originally for strings and subsequently orchestrated, Brett Dean’s 2008 piece Testament was inspired in part by the Heiligenstadt Testament, the document in which Beethoven candidly acknowledged his deafness. Conducted by Jaime Martin, the enlarged version is paired with Brahms’s ebullient Symphony No. 2.
Opera Australia
Sydney Opera House, 1-10 March Tel: +61 2 9318 8200 Web: www.opera.org.au
Bluebeard’s Castle, Bartók’s only opera, might be low on cast numbers (there are only two protagonists), but it’s high on edge-of-seat psychological drama and visceral orchestral power. Carmen Topciu sings the role of Judith, the unflinchingly inquisitive new wife of the Duke (sung by Daniel Sumegi); Andrea Molino conducts.
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Victoria Hall, Singapore, 5 & 6 March Tel: +65 6602 4245
Web: www.sso.org.sg
Cédric Tiberghien brings a little
Gallic know-how to Ravel’s G major Piano Concerto, whose jazzy outer movements flank a deliciously dreamy nocturne. An arrangement of Debussy’s Petite Suite is the curtain-raiser, with Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony for afters. Principal guest conductor Andrew Litton is at the helm.
Masaaki and Masato Suzuki Duo
Kioi Hall, Tokyo, 15 March
Tel: +81 03 5510 0950
Web: www.bachcollegiumjapan.org
Originally scheduled for last year’s Bach Collegium Japan 30th anniversary celebrations, father and son play harpsichord duets by members of the Bach family, including a transcription of Johann Sebastian’s Orchestral Suite No. 1.
Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra
Xinghai Concert Hall,
Guangzhou, 17 March
Tel: +86 400 108 8808
Web: www.gso.org.cn
Kent Nagano conducts Mahler’s Ninth Symphony. Although the composer did not intend it as a symphonic ‘last will and testament’, a palpable air of valediction hangs over its heartfelt closing bars.
Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and Festa
Osaka, Japan, 16-23 May
Tel: +81 06 6947 2183 Web: jcmf.or.jp/competition-festa/en/
Crowned by prizewinners’ concerts in Osaka and Tokyo, and celebrating its tenth edition, the competition invites young musicians from across the world to compete in classes for string quartet and piano trio. Encouraging a love of chamber music in all its manifestations, the Festa is open house to classical, ethnic and traditional musicians, all competing for the coveted Menuhin Prize.
New Zealand Opera
Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Auckland, 8-13 June
Tel: +64 9 379 4020 Web: www.nzopera.com
Mozart’s edgy comedy The Marriage of Figaro is rescheduled after last year’s COVID cancellation. Directed by Lindy Hume and conducted by Zoe Zeniodi, it opens in Auckland before saying ‘I do’ in Wellington and Christchurch.
Hong Kong Philharmonic
Cultural Centre Concert Hall, Hong Kong,
11 & 12 June
+852 3761 6661 www.hkphil.org
They might not seem obvious bedfellows, but in its own way Poulenc’s Organ Concerto is as characteristic as Richard Strauss’s imposing Alpine Symphony – the latter bolstered here with screen projections of the Alps by photographer Tobias Melle. It’s not the only Strauss in the programme: his lesser-known Festliches Präludium is the opener for a concert conducted by Michael Sanderling. The organist is Christian Schmitt.
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Hall, Shanghai, 12 June
Tel: +86 4008 212 522 Web: www.shsymphony.com
Mahler and Sibelius may not have seen eye to eye on the nature of the symphony, but differences are patched up in this final concert of the Shanghai season. Conducted by John Nelson, Michelle Kim is the soloist in the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and Yuanming Song is the soprano as Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 tilts its gaze heavenwards.
Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Townsville, North Queensland, 23 July – 1 August
Tel: +61 1800 44 99 77 Web: www.afcm.com.au
Forty-five musicians from around the world, including soprano Carolyn Sampson and didgeridoo maestro William Barton, were invited to mark the Australian Festival of Chamber Music’s 30th anniversary last year; but in the event a more modest celebration went digital. Five world and 11 Australian premieres were stitched into 2020’s programme, much of which artistic director pianist Kathryn Stott hopes can carry over into this year’s lineup – dispersed, as ever, over morning conversation concerts, the hour-long Sunset Series, and the signature evening events.