Giulio Cesare at the Grange: superb music performances compensate for David Alden's scattershot approach to Handel's masterpiece with Christian Curnyn, Tim Mead, Sarah Brady, Hugh Cutting, Jess Dandy. My opera review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/giul...

It's all about the music: Opera Holland Park chorus & City of London Sinfonia on terrific form under Naomi Woo in powerful, celebratory Turandot with Anne Sophie Duprels, José de Eça. My opera review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/its-...

80th anniversary: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates with its new season & music director Vasily Petrenko looks forward. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/80th...

Concertos for friends: Colin Currie in Tansy Davies, Tamsin Waley-Cohen in Freya Waley-Cohen with BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Kevin John Edusei at Aldeburgh Festival. Tony's review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/conc...

Allow yourself to be seduced: Tsinandali Festival features the Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra at historic estate in Georgia. My preview www.planethugill.com/2026/06/tsin...

ECHO Rising Stars announced for 2027-28 including Laura van der Heijden, Junyan Chen, Fibonacci Quartet, Aaron Azunda Akugbo. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/echo...

Powerful moments: Paul Wingfield directs Chelsea Opera Group in an impressive account of Mozart's Idomeneo with Andrew Henley, Eleanor Dennis, Frances Gregory, Lorena Paz Nieto. My opera review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/powe...

From Young Apollo to the Cello Symphony to the Poet's Echo to Phaedra: the range of Britten's composing career explored by Britten Sinfonia at Aldeburgh Festival alongside new works. Tony's review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/from...

Light & shade: Laurence Cummings, Academy of Ancient Music & a terrific cast make Handel's Serse into a captivating & engaging evening in the theatre with Paula Murrihy, Louise Alder, Rebecca Leggett. My opera review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/ligh...

Living Voices: Whitehall Choir, Ian Tindale & Joanna Tomlinson to give premiere of Russell Hepplewhite's choral cycle setting contemporary poets' responses to the modern world www.planethugill.com/2026/06/livi...

The Sixteen at St James's: a new partnership between The Sixteen & St James's Piccadilly providing the choir with its first London home. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/the-...

Aldeburgh Festival: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson & Florence Price from Sphinx Piano Quintet, Elizabeth Ogonek, Ryan Wigglesworth, Ravel from BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Tony's review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/amer...

Bringers of Dreams: BREMF Emerging Artists announced for the 2026 Brighton Early Music Festival. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/brin...

Truly captivating: bass baritone Nicola Alaimo & pianist Carlo Rizzi celebrate Opera Rara's Donizetti Song Project with songs by Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini & Mercadante at Wigmore Hall. My review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/trul...

A day at Aldeburgh: Lise Davidsen's Aldeburgh Festival début in Schubert with James Baillieu, and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande semi-staged with Sophie Bevan, Jacques Imbrailo, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth. Tony's review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/a-da...

Celebrating with a flourish: York Early Music Festival celebrates its 50th edition with a new fanfare from composer Sam Meredith. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/cele...

Vocal fireworks & extreme emotions: Franco Fagioli, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles & Stefan Plewniak in music written for the castrato Velluti at St Martin in the Fields. My review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/voca...

A portal into how we reflect the world around us now: violinist Violetta Suvini on bringing three world premieres to Cheltenham Music Festival with music by Ben Nobuto, Jasmine Morris & Imogen Davey. My interview: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/a-po...

Eight Days: Louis Mander & Louisa Petaï's new opera focuses on Mary, Queen of Scots' final days using her own words, debuting at Tête à Tête then travelling to Fotheringhay where Mary was executed. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/eigh...

Familiar yet unfamiliar: with Summa, Cello Octet Amsterdam present Arvo Pärt's music in performances that are simply mesmeric. My record review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/fami...

Interview: finding his way home through a single voice. Cellist Sebastian Plano talks about his new album Solo. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/find...

Verdi & the 50th anniversary of the birth of punk: La traviata from St Paul's Opera promises to fuse Victorian morality with punk rebellion, director Edwina Strobl, music director Adrian Salerno with Lizzie Ryder in the title role. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/verd...

La Clemenza di Tito: despite a lack of staging, Christopher Rousset & Les Talens Lyriques light up the stage in Mozart's great final opera at The Grange Festival with Jeremy Ovenden, Aphrodite Patoulidou & Maite Beaumont. My opera review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/la-c...

Every nuance tells: Missy Mazzoli's Proving Up receives its UK premiere at Guildhall School, director Amy Lane, conductor James Henshaw. Edward Lambert's review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/ever...

May on Planet Hugill: Puccini's Wild West, package holiday Mozart, stripped back Britten. This month's newsletter on MailChimp: mailchi.mp/planethugill...

Mozart & Da Ponte admirably reinvented for a small stage: Wild Arts intimate & vividly engaging account of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro directed by Danielle de Niese, conductor Orlando Jopling. My opera review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/moza...

Extraordinary in her time: Joseph Phibbs & Dominic Sandbrook's new opera, Mrs T, to be showcased at Kings Place, aims to explore Mrs Thatcher as a personality, see how she reacted to political events. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/extr...

Getting the keys to the toyshop: I chat to Ryan Wigglesworth about being Featured Artist at the 2026 Aldeburgh Festival featuring him as conductor, composer, & chamber musician. My interview: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/gett...

Beautifully well-matched casting & superb singing: David McVicar's production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Covent Garden with Alex Esposito, Louise Alder, Andrey Zilikhovsky, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Svetlina Stoyanova, Bertrand de Billy. My review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/beau...

Mining the contemporary: two American opera releases, by Ricky Ian Gordon on Bright Shiny Things & Tobias Picker on Blue Griffin Records & at Santa Fe Opera, take inspiration from the AIDS crisis & an historical figure of trans identity. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/mini...

A 4,000-year-old lullaby inspires Freya Waley Cohen's new piece for sister Tamsin as part of Lullabies programme with Cordelia Williams at Southbank Centre. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/a-40...

Auf wiedersehen! Following this Ring cycle, Sir Donald Runnicles bows out as General Music Director of @deutscheoperberlin.bsky.social , a position he has grandly held since 2009. Tony's opera review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/in-h...

Flow Interrupted: prepared piano performance by Teodor Doré in Roca Gallery, a space conceived by Zaha Hadid, presented by Renaissance-21 as part of London Festival of Architecture. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/flow...

Strauss & Korngold: little known works by well-known composers in passionate performances from Francesca Dego & Alessandro Taverna at Conway Hall. My concert review: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/stra...

Creative Minds in Song: Twelve Years of Listening - Gavin Roberts introduces the latest chapter in a project that has quietly changed lives through song - composers, singers & community writers create new songs from original texts. Gavin's article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/crea...

BBC Proms: Tony Cooper makes his personal selection of events from the 2026 edition of the world’s largest classical-music festival. Tony's article: www.planethugill.com/2026/06/bbc-...

Relishing the challenge: during rehearsals for their forthcoming production of The Marriage of Figaro directed by Danielle de Niese, I chat to Orlando Jopling about Wild Arts' ambitious touring plans. My interview; www.planethugill.com/2026/05/reli...

What fun, what larks: musical quality & deft comic action in Opera Holland Park's 1960s package deal holiday Cosi fan tutte, dir: Cecilia Stinton, cond: Charlotte Corderoy with Madeline Boreham, Shakira Tsindos, Osian Wyn Bowen, Paul Grant. My opera review: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/what...

Late Romantic: Francesca Dego & Alessandro Taverna in Richard Strauss & Erich Korngold's violin sonatas at Conway Hall on Sunday along with my pre-concert talk. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/late...

Dowland 400: Tony Cooper looks at the 400th anniversary of the death of John Dowland, honoured & remembered at the festival in Norwich’s historic Octagon Chapel. Tony's preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/dowl...

Donnerstags-Abschied: 2026 East Neuk Festival plans tribute to the late John Wallace with a work he wanted to bring to the festival but never achieved. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/donn...

A mix of melodrama & sentiment, yet unashamedly enjoyable: Opera Holland Park open the season in terrific form with Puccini's La fancuilla del West dir: Martin Lloyd Duncan, cond: Matthew Kofi Waldren with Amanda Echalaz, José de Eça, Robert Hayward. My review: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/a-mi...

Thomas Adès as Principal Guest Conductor, Sir James MacMillan as Featured Composer: The Hallé Orchestra & Kahchun Wong's 2026/27 season. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/thom...

A shared encounter between contemporary music & art: Alex Mills's debut album Look How Brightly on Delphian Records has a physical manifestation as an exhibition at Apsara Studio. My preview: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/a-sh...

Britten in America, Belshazzar's Feast, BBC New Generation Artists: Tony Cooper spent a few days at Norfolk & Norwich Festival with Britten Sinfonia, Norwich Philharmonic, Kleio Quartet. Tony's review: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/a-co...

From the Caribbean to Brazil with a bit of New Orleans on the way... Brixton Chamber Orchestra's Streetband Parade 2026. My spotlight: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/from...

Leeds is alive with the Sound of Music: Opera North celebrates the 65th anniversary of the musical premiering in the UK and looks forward to its performances at Grand Theatre Leeds. My spotlight: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/leed...

Capella Edina: how Luis Schmidt, a young conductor from Munich, came to found Edinburgh's first professional philharmonic orchestra in almost ninety years. My interview www.planethugill.com/2026/05/cape...

Every detail mattered: Basel Chamber Orchestra & Vilde Frang in Bach, Mendelssohn & Grieg at Wigmore Hall. My concert review: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/ever...

At just 17, pianist Jacky Zhang becomes the youngest ever winner of the Sheepdrove Piano Competition at Newbury Spring Festival. My article: www.planethugill.com/2026/05/at-j...