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Durham’s second Festival of the Arts, bringing together the university’s leading musical and theatre groups, begins on 3 June with a gala concert in the Cathedral. I’ve picked out a few of my highlights from the wide-ranging list of musical events on their programme.
English Touring Opera’s disturbing and finely sung production of Gluck’s Iphégenie en Tauride shows up the futility of trying to blame everything on the gods.
The eight singers of Northern Consort make an accomplished debut singing Lenten music by Tallis and Parry at Ushaw College, adding a welcome new voice at the small end of the Durham choral world.
I’d always assumed that masterclasses were really only for other advanced students, but an afternoon at the Samling Artist masterclass at Sage Gateshead showed me how fascinating they are for anyone who is interested in how great musical performances are put together.
Durham Opera Ensemble’s unmistakably Spanish Carmen, with strong performances from Sophia Smith Galer, Philippe Durrant, James Quitmann and Clare Ward, and a swelteringly hot orchestra and chorus.
In a dazzlingly inventive and entertaining programme, The Clerks, with organist William Whitehead, explore episodes from the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, telling stories from his youth, putting us into the shoes of his earliest musical colleagues, and filling in some blanks in his own notebook.
I’m singing Rachmaninov Vespers with Durham Singers at the moment, and although I don’t have to battle with the language, I’ve had to overcome the effect it has on my spirits. Two Russian words sum up the musings in this blog post: ‘toska’ and ‘radost’.
Durham Choral Society and Northern Spirit Singers, with soloists Andrew Slater and Rowan Pierce perform Fauré’s heavenly Requiem and Walton’s very earthy Belshazzar’s Feast.
Congratulations to Rowan Pierce on being named one of the 2016 Samling Artists.
Music in Durham brings you classical music listings, previews, reviews and news for Durham, with a bit of random blogging thrown in. The concert listing pages bring together classical music events from across the City and the University, so whether you’re looking for a great concert to go to, or if you’re planning something and want to avoid clashes, this is the place to look.
