I wish I were forty years younger and living in Birmingham. Why? The New Library. If you have not yet visited then put it at the top of your list of places I must visit before I die.

Let’s start with the gardens – yes, the gardens. A natural meadow is spread out around the sunken amphitheatre even before you enter the building, and then as you rise up to level 7 there are gardens aplenty, all of them intimately related to ordinary people of all ages. For above all this is a place for everyone. In the past this could too easily have meant dumbing down or playing to the lowest common denominator, but not here. I drafted this sitting on the comfy seats in level two. It is so quiet that I have no problem thinking or writing. Yet there are people all around me, hushed conversations in all parts of the building, children playing happily on the entrance level or in the many children’s areas. One of the many miracles of this place is the creation of a building which takes culture and research very seriously and yet is open to all, at whatever level they wish to access it. There are no pings, buzzers, PA messages or in fact anything to distract you from the work you want to do. And all of this within a building which is already iconic.

Travel up the blue-neon escalators and the glass lift to the Shakespeare Room, meticulously re-created from its original position, and then view the city itself, vibrantly laid out before you – the Symphony Hall, the canals, the resurrected New Street Station, all lie below you – and that itself seems symbolic, for the work, the research, the thought that lies at the heart of the new library must act as a driving force for what Birmingham is now and will become in the future. Many may have been doubtful that the expense was worth it – it was worth every penny, and will be worth its weight in gold as time goes on.

And I’ve not mentioned the toilets! If every public building had as many toilets per person as this has there would never again be any complaints about queues.

If this is an example of public finance and public responsibility in action, then it is the finest example I can think of to justify more power to local authorities. Birmingham can justifiably be proud of what it has achieved. Who’s next?! BH

• An exciting series of four concerts in Milton Court Concert Hall
• The return of ‘Singers at Six’ in four early-evening concerts in St Giles’s Cripplegate
• Britten 100 celebrations include a concert in the Aldeburgh Britten Centenary Weekend
• BBC Singers celebrate the choral works of Thea Musgrave and Heitor Villa-Lobos as part of the BBC Symphony Orchestra Total Immersion Days
• BBC Singers premiere a recently rediscovered C.P.E. Bach St John Passion with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits

Brighton Dome is delighted to welcome back its popular Coffee Concerts series to Brighton Dome Corn Exchange this autumn – a series featuring world class chamber music. Bringing a national and international mix of emerging talent, established artists, and award-winning musicians to the south coast, the intimate nature of these recitals – often performed in the round – offer audiences a sociable and enriching experience.

Jubilee Quartet
Thurs 3 Oct 7.30pm
Haydn String Quartet in C Major op.54 No.2
Janacek String Quartet No.2
Intimate Letters
Schubert String Quartet No.14 in
D minor D.810 Death and the Maiden

Apollon Musagète Quartet
Sun 13 Oct 11am
Mendelssohn String Quartet No.2 in A minor Op.13
Prokofiev Visions Fugitives Op.22
Stravinsky Concertino for String Quartet
Shostakovich String Quartet No.4 in D major op.83

Rachel Podger
Sun 10 Nov, 11am
Pisendel Sonata per violino solo senza basso
Tartini Sonata in B minor No.13, B:h1
J H Roman Assaggio a Violini solo BeRI 314
Nicola Matteis Three works
Bach Partita in G minor BWV 1013
Biber Passacaglia
Tartini Sonata in A minor, B:a3

Heath Quartet
Sun 15 Dec, 11am
Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor D.703
Tippett String Quartet No.4
Beethoven String Quartet No.8 in E minor Op.59 No.2

Soloists of the Royal College of Music
Sun 19 Jan 2014, 11am
Schubert Octet in F major D.803 for clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet and double bass

Trio Isimisz
Sun 23 Feb 2014, 11am
Haydn Piano Trio in D major Hob.XV.24
Beethoven Piano Trio in C minor Op.1 No.3
Schubert Piano Trio No.1 in B flat major D.898

Zemlinsky Quartet
Sun 16 Mar 2014, 11am
Beethoven String Quartet No.1 Op 18
Zemlinksy String Quartet No.3 Op.19
Dvo?rak String Quartet No.13 Op.106

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Two weeks packed with world-class concerts, talks, master-classes and more make Oxford the number one destination for song lovers this autumn. Highlights include: Sir Willard White (15 Oct), Toby Spence (23 Oct),Kate Royal (26 Oct), Mark Stone (18 Oct) and Joan Rodgers (21 Oct); Wolfgang Holzmair and Imogen Cooper(22 Oct) in an all-Schubert programme; Roderick Williams and Andrew West performing Schumann’s Dichterliebeand a major new commission from composer Robert Saxton (16 Oct); Christoph Prégardien and Roger Vignoles (25 Oct).

The complete songs of Benjamin Britten are presented in conjunction with Britten in Oxford, a year-long celebration of the composer. Over the weekend of 19/20 Oct, there will be a particular emphasis on Britten, with artists includingBenjamin Hulett, Stephan Loges and Joshua Ellicott. The final concert of this features James Bowman, who will talk about his experiences of working with Britten. Songs will also appear in the well-established lunchtime series that gives a platform to the best students from the UK’s leading conservatoires.

Oxford Lieder’s ambitious project to perform and record the complete songs of Hugo Wolf concludes with his settings of Goethe (12, 14 and 17 Oct), with artists including Roderick Williams, Andrew Kennedy, Daniela Lehner, Sophie Bevan, Jonathan Lemalu ; Oxford Lieder’s artistic director Sholto Kynoch is the pianist for the series.

Settings of Goethe will also feature in a study day devoted to the great writer and polymath and his influence on the world of song (12 Oct). Roger Vignoles will lead this year’s residential master course (20-23 Oct) and there are master classes for aspiring professionals and amateur singers.  Other events include free family concerts and a screening of Tony Palmer’s latest film on Benjamin Britten Nocturne. Concerts take place in the Holywell Music Room (Europe’s  oldest concert hall), New College Chapel, St Michael in the Northgate, and Oxford’s newest music venue, the beautiful church of St John the Evangelist, Iffley Road.

For full programme visit http://www.oxfordlieder.co.uk/2013-festival-brochure

Tickets £6 – £30 from 01865 305305 / www.ticketsoxford.com   www.oxfordlieder.co.uk

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales will be attending the opening night of Welsh National Opera’s new production of Wagner’s Lohengrin on Thursday 23 May 2013.  This year marks the 200^th anniversary of the German composer’s birth.

The Prince of Wales is WNO’s Patron and regularly enjoys Wagner’s operas.  The last performance he attended at Wales Millennium Centre was WNO’s award winning production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 2010.  Last year The Prince hosted a gala evening for WNO at Buckingham Palace where the WNO Chorus performed a Wagner programme for guests who had supported the Company’s work.

WNO Music Director Lothar Koenigs said: “We are thrilled and honoured that His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is able to attend the opening night of our new production of Lohengrin in Cardiff.  The performances of Lohengrin this season will not only celebrate Wagner’s bicentenary year but will also be the first time in 50 years for WNO audiences to see this masterpiece. I would especially like to thank the Lohengrin syndicate for their generous financial support enabling us to present this production –we are truly grateful.”

Members of WNO’s Singing Club who greeted guests at Buckingham Palace last year will welcome The Prince as he arrives at the Wales Millennium Centre on 23 May.  Members of Singing Club are aged between 10 and 14 years old and meet every Saturday morning to learn singing techniques as well as drama skills.  Club members regularly appear in main-scale WNO operas which call for children’s roles. 

Following the performance The Prince will go on stage to meet members of the Welsh National Opera Company, Chorus and Orchestra, as well as cast and crew.  He will also meet members of the WNO Lohengrin Syndicate and Gala guests who have helped support this production.

WNO is commemorating Wagner’s bicentenary with this new production of Lohengrin directed and designed by Antony McDonald and conducted by WNO’s Music Director Lothar Koenigs.  The British staged première of Jonathan Harvey’s Wagner’s Dream will also form part of WNO’s summer season in Cardiff and Birmingham.

The arts may be suffering from extensive cuts, but ENO have just released plans for an innovative and challenging new season which will include ten new productions, and four major revivals.

Terry Gilliam returns to ENO

Terry Gilliam returns to ENO following his fantastic success with the critically acclaimed and sell-out The Damnation of Faust in 2011. Gilliam will direct another Berlioz opera: Benvenuto Cellini, the technically challenging and rarely performed opera in two acts based loosely on the life of the Florentine sculptor of the title. Gilliam continues his successful relationship with ENO and Edward Gardner, who conducts.

A world premiere from Julian Anderson and Frank McGuinness

Music Director Edward Gardner leads Julian Anderson’s new opera, Thebans, with a libretto by celebrated author and playwright Frank McGuinness. Directed by Pierre Audi, founder of The Almeida Theatre and currently director of The Netherlands Opera and the Holland Festival, this world premiere will mark Audi’s return to London after 30 years. This is the first opera by Anderson, who is Professor and Composer in Residence at Guildhall School Music and Drama.

A new space for contemporary opera with AMBIKA P3

Joe Hill-Gibbins, one of Britain’s most exciting young theatre directors, will direct Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face at Ambika P3. Last year Hill-Gibbins directed a delirious and disturbing production of the Jacobean classic The Changeling at the Young Vic, following on from his fresh, critically acclaimed revivals of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Glass Menagerie and Brecht’s A Respectable Wedding. Ambika P3 is the University of Westminster’s space for contemporary art, architecture and music, converted from the vast former subterranean concrete construction hall of the School of Engineering at Baker Street, London. Dedicated to innovation, experimentation and learning, the programme has been conceived as a laboratory and meeting place for practitioners, industry and academia.

Major directorial talent excels at ENO, bringing fresh interpretations of core repertoire

Artistic Director of Complicite, lauded actor and director of ENO’s critically acclaimed A Dog’s Heart, Simon McBurney will direct ENO’s new production of The Magic Flute. This co-production with The Netherlands Opera received its premiere recently in Amsterdam. Katie Mitchell, who directed Idomeneo for ENO in 2010 and After Dido in 2009, will return this season to direct a new Così Fan Tutte, with a libretto by celebrated playwright Martin Crimp. Calixto Bieito returned to London and ENO in 2012, after 8 years, with an acclaimed production of Carmen. He continues his relationship with the company, opening the 13/14 season with the powerful Fidelio, a co-production with Bayerische Staatsoper. Celebrated ENO Olivier Award-winning opera director Christopher Alden, currently directing Le Nozze di Figaro with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic, brings two new co-productions with Canadian Opera Company to ENO this season: Rigoletto and Die Fledermaus.

Matthew Barney’s new work

ENO often aims to extend its relationships with directors and composers, such as work with Damon Albarn and the hugely successful Dr Dee of 2012, to the multifaceted collaboration with Michel van der Aa and Sunken Garden of 2013 or Olga Neuwerth and David Lynch’s Lost Highway of 2008. River of Fundament is a new film/music project from artist Matthew Barney and Composer Jonathan Bepler Loosely based on Norman Mailer’s novel Ancient Evenings, the film explores the seven stages of the soul’s departure from the deceased body as it passes from death to rebirth in accordance with Egyptian mythology.

Fidelio

Opens: 25 September 2013 (7 performances)

A co-production with Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich

Die Fledermaus

Opens: 30 September 2013 (11 performances)

A co-production with Canadian Opera Company

New production supported by Lord and Lady Laidlaw

Madam Butterfly

Opens: 14 October 2013 (14 performances)

A co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, New York and the Lithuanian National Opera

Original production supported by Lord and Lady Laidlaw

The Magic Flute

Opens: 7 November 2013 (12 performances)

A co-production with De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam and International Festival of Lyric Art, Aix-en-Provence, and in collaboration with Complicite

Satyagraha

Opens: 20 November 2013 (6 performances)

A co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and in collaboration with Improbable

Original production supported by ENO’s Contemporary Opera Group

Peter Grimes

Opens: 29 January 2014 (8 performances)

A co-production with De Vlaamse Opera, Opera de Oviedo and Deutsche Oper Berlin

Original production supported by ENO’s English Opera Group

Rigoletto

Opens: 13 February 2014 (11 performances)

A co-production with Canadian Opera Company

New production supported by a syndicate of individual donors

Rodelinda

Opens: 28 February 2014 (8 performances)

A co-production with the Bolshoi Opera, Russia

New production supported by Colwinston Charitable Trust and a syndicate of individual donors

Powder Her Face

Opens: 2 April 2014 (9 site-specific performances at Ambika P3)

Thebans

Opens: 3 May 2014 (8 performances)

A co-production with Bonn Oper

New production supported by The Boltini Trust, PRS for Music Foundation and ENO’s Contemporary Opera Group

Cosi Fan Tutte

Opens: 16 May 2014 (12 performances)

A co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, New York

Benvenuto Cellini

Opens: 5 June 2014 (8 performances)

A co-production with De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam

New production supported by the Peter Moores Foundation’s Swansong Project 2013–2015 and a syndicate of individual donors

The Pearl Fishers

Opens: 16 June 2014 (9 performances)

River of Fundament

Opens 29 June 2014 (3 viewings)

River of Fundament is presented worldwide on behalf of the artist by Manchester International Festival

Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 September

http://www.darbar.org/darbarfestival

The Darbar Festival returns to the Southbank Centre following its sell out success in 2012 for another invigorating weekend of music, talks, food, and yoga from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 September in the Purcell Room for a full immersion in the hypnotic flavours of India. This year the unique Festival of both Hindustani and Carnatic music will showcase the next generation of India’s most respected up and coming talent with a special focus on female performers, some of whom will be performing in London for the first time. The Festival will also celebrate the life and memory of the great Pandit Ravi Shankar who passed away in December 2012.

The 2013 Festival

Thursday 19th

6.30pm – ‘Transposed Rhythm and the Saraswati Veena’

Bernhard Shimpelsberger drums
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
Interval
Jayanthi Kumaresh saraswati veena
Patri Satish Kumar mridangam
RN Prakash ghatam
The Festival opens with a double bill concert of drums performed by Shimpelsberger to Indian rhythms together with Munde on the pakhawaj.

Friday 20th

12:45pm – ‘Tribute to Ravi Shankar’

Oliver Caske

Simon Broughton

Find out more about the life and times of this great Indian classical music maestro. Illustrated with photographs rarely seen by the general public.

2.30pm – ‘Great Improvisational Expectations’

Debashish Bhattacharya slide guitar

Yogesh Samsi tabla

The trendsetter Bhattacharya presents afternoon ragas through his virtuosity. He doesn’t believe in the difference between classical music from East and West, but sees it simply as universal. He is accompanied by one of India’s foremost tabla maestros, Samsi, who takes the improvisational accompaniment to dazzling heights.

6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Saraswati Veena’

Jayanthi Kumaresh saraswati veena

Patri Satish Kumar mridangam

RN prakash ghatam

Jayanthi Kumaresh is the most highly prized Saraswati veena player in India – enjoy the traditional way to hear Saraswati veena.

6.30pm – ‘Colours of Dhrupad and the Majestic Sarod’

Nirmalya Dey dhrupad vocal

Sukhad Munde pakhawaj

Interval

Ustad Wajahat Khan sarod

Akram Khan tabla

Dhrupad predates the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions of today but sadly there are merely a handful of remaining practitioners making this concert a rare treat. Khan, belonging to a 400-year musical dynasty is a celebrated composer and sarod maestro. He performs ragas in the Imdadkhani Gharana style.

Saturday 21st

10.00am – ‘Glorious Morning: Ragas Unwrapped’

Manjusha Kulkarni-Patilkhayal vocal
Tanmay Deochake harmonium

Akram Khan tabla

Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil is India’s most sought after young virtuoso of the Agra and Gwalior Gharanas. In her debut UK concert, she presents these morning ragas in her inmitable style which savours their expressive implications of the words, relishing their subtle shifts of rhythm to create a sighing quality.

10:15am – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Morning Sitar Recital’

Mehboob Nadeem sitar

Harkiret Bahra tabla

Mehboob Nadeem performs morning raga melodies in a rare mehfil-style concert.

2.30pm – ‘Enchanting Afternoon Ragas on 100 Strings

Harjinderpal Singh Matharu santoor

Yogesh Samsi tabla

Harjinderpal Singh Matharu performs mesmerising ragas on the santoor, an ancient string instrument that produces a beautiful trance-like sound, which Sufi mystics use as an accompanying instrument in their divine music.

6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Rudra Veena’

Ustad Baha’uddin Dagar rudra veena

Sukhad Munde pakhawaj

An opportunity to hear Dagar, a 21st-generation musician and one of a handful in the world playing the rudra veena. The young maestro Munde accompanies him on the pakhawaj.

6.30pm – ‘Iconic Sitar to Mesmerising Carnatic Ragas’

Anupama Bhagwatsitar
Gurdain Rayatt table

Interval

Sudha Ragunathan carnatic vocal

Jyotsna Shrikanth violin

Patri Satish Kumar mridangam

RN Prakash ghatam

In her UK debut performance, Bhagwat plays the sitar with vigour that is the hallmark of her Imdadkhan Gharana. She is accompanied by Rayatt, the UK’s rising star of tabla.

Ragunathan, known for her enchanting voice, is the most eminent singer in the South Indian devotional Carnatic tradition. A trio of Carnatic heavy weights will accompany her.

Sunday 22nd

10.00am – ‘Morning Ragas: Sitar on Fire’

Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjeesitar
Soumen Nandi tabla

The sitar phenomenon Mukherjee returns to the London stage after an absence of six years. With his bullet speed virtuosic ability, he has been described by the great veena maestro, S. Balachander, as the sitar artist of the century. Nandi makes his debut UK appearance accompanying Mukherjee.

10:15am – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Kirana Gharana Khayal’

Dr Vijay Rajput khayal vocal

Tanmay Deochake harmonium

Shahbaz Hussain tabla

Dr Rajput, a disciple of the illustrious North-Indian vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, is one of Britain’s most talented classical Indian vocalists. He returns to the Darbar Festival to perform poetic morning ragas.

12:45pm – ‘Where Are the Women?’

Sudha Ragunathan

Dharambir Singh MBE

One of India’s most experienced Carnatic vocalists Sudha Ragunathan talks vividly about her life as a female musician and explores the role of women in Indian classical music.

2.30pm – ‘Limitless Tabla, Punjab Style’

Yogesh Samsi tabla

Tanmay Deochake harmonium nagma

This long awaited tabla solo shows of the amazing versatility of this instrument through the hands of India’s great intellectual table maestros. Samsi’s sublime dexterity in manipulating time and tone through rhythmic patterns is exhilarating to witness. Deochake accompanies him on nagma.

6:00pm – ‘Rudra Veena to Magnificent Khayal’

Ustad Baha’uddin Dagar sitar

Sukhad Munde pakhawaj

Interval

Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar khayal vocal

Tanmay Deochake harmonium

The Dagar family dynasty is synonymous with Dhrupad. Dagar is noted for his control of the raga. The terrific young Munde accompanies on the pakhawaj. Panshikar presents evening ragas from the Jaipur Atruli Gharana, known for its beautiful and unusual ragas, and is accompanied by an array of stalwart musicians.

6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Sitar & Tabla’

Aunpama Bhagwat sitar

Gurdain Rayatt tabla

One of India’s freshest female sitar maestros, Bhagwat, makes her debut visit to the UK. She is accompanied by leading UK tabla player Gurdain Rayatt.

www.southbankcentre.co.uk/darbarfestival

Southbank Centre Ticket Office: 0844 875 0073

· Appearances by Gustavo Dudamel, Lang Lang, Karita Mattila, Sir Antonio Pappano, Maxim Vengerov, Joseph Calleja, Ingrid Fliter, Joshua Bell, Andreas Scholl, John Lill, András Schiff

· San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas visit Birmingham for first time since 1995

· Season opens with Peter Grimes from London Philharmonic and Vladimir Jurowski, continuing Birmingham’s Britten Centenary

· Sir Roger Norrington’s 80^th birthday concert

· Three-concert residency from the Pavel Haas Quartet

· Bach: A Beautiful Mind: six events in the biennial Bach celebration

· Thomas Trotter’s 30^th anniversary recital as Birmingham City Organist

· International visits from Orchestra Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Moscow Philharmonic, Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra and Apollo’s Fire

· Opera performances from The Royal Opera and Opera North’s Ring Cycle, The English Concert in Handel’s Theodora and Music Theatre Wales production of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek