Barbican presents The English Concert and Les Talens Lyriques:

Handel Radamisto – 10 February 2013; Lully Phaëton – 8 March 2013

Renowned for its commitment to historically-informed performances of Baroque music, the Barbican’s classical music season in Spring 2013 features two of the finest interpreters of the Baroque and Classical music repertoire: The English Concert with Artistic Director Harry Bicket; and Les Talens Lyriques, under the directorship of Christophe Rousset. Both present concert performances of lesser-known gems of the operatic repertoire, with a prestigious cast of singers.

On 10 February, Harry Bicket conducts The English Concert in a rare UK performance of Handel’s Radamisto. The story of desire, dictatorship and personal infatuation at the court of the Armenian King Tiridate is the first of a collection of operas that Handel wrote for the newly-founded Royal Academy of Music. Despite being given its premiere at the King’s Theatre, London in 1720, modern revivals have been reasonably scarce, something The English Concert is rectifying; Radamisto forms the main focus of its current season.

Recognised as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world and celebrated for its inspiring performances of Baroque and Classical repertoire, The English Concert celebrates its 40^th anniversary in 2013. The Barbican performance will see the ensemble joined by a stellar cast of regular collaborators including the American countertenor David Daniels in the title role of Radamisto, English soprano Elizabeth Watts, as well as Patricia Bardon, Luca Pisaroni and Brenda Rae.

The following month, distinguished French conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset and his Baroque ensemble Les Talens Lyriques continue their exploration of forgotten masterpieces with a fresh interpretation and first UK performance of Lully’s Phaëton – the story of the son of Helios, the Sun God (8 March).

Christophe Rousset has a special affinity with Lully and his exciting performances have done much to revive appreciation of this influential composer. In the UKpremiere at the Barbican, he champions this revival of Lully’s tragédie lyrique with a cast that includes Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Ingrid Perruche, Isabelle Druet, Sophie Bevan, Andrew Foster-Williams, Matthew Brook and Benoît Arnould.

For more information, please see the Barbican’s website:

The English Concert / Bicket – Radamisto, 10 February 2013: http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=13052

Les Talens Lyriques / Rousset – Phaëton, 8 March 2013: http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=13058

ENO to stage the UK premiere of Philip Glass’s new opera The Perfect American, directed by Phelim McDermott

ENO’s commitment to staging highly original, theatrical work, with collaborations across artistic disciplines continues with the staging of the much anticipated UK premiere of The Perfect American by Philip Glass, directed by Phelim McDermott. Author and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer’s libretto, based on Peter Stephen Jungk’s novel, is a factional story about Walt Disney during the final years of his life, narrated by cartoonist Wilhelm Dantine, who worked for Disney in the 1950s. British conductor Gareth Jones makes his ENO debut with an impressive cast featuring Christopher Purves as Walt Disney.

One of the world’s most influential composers of operas, symphonies, compositions for his own ensemble and collaborations with artists, Glass’s latest opera, his twenty-forth, was commissioned by ENO and Teatro Real Madrid to mark his 75^th birthday and will receive its world premiere in Madrid in January 2013. Glass is perhaps best known for his film work. A three-time Academy Award Nominee and BAFTA award winner, he has received accolades for his film scores to Kundun (1997), Notes on a Scandal (2006) and The Hours (2002) which also received nominations for Golden Globe and Grammy Awards. His operas include Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Akhnaten, and The Voyage.

British director Phelim McDermott, Artistic Director and co-founder of Improbable Theatre Company, returns to ENO to stage his second Philip Glass opera. McDermott made his ENO debut in 2005 with ENO’s production of Glass’s Satyagraha, a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera New York, where it was subsequently staged. The Guardian described it as ‘an astonishingly beautiful work, and The Times ‘a masterwork of theatrical intensity and integrity’. Completing the creative team is lighting designer Jon Clark and designer Dan Porta, whose acclaimed work on leading international events and costumes includes the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games ceremony.

Conductor Gareth Jones, a frequent collaborator with Bryn Terfel, and founder and Artistic Director of Sinfonia Cymru, was a member of the music staff at Welsh National Opera from 1990 – 2008. Previously he has conducted at Bregenz Festival and Vancouver Opera. This will be his ENO debut.

The Perfect American opens at the London Coliseum on 1 June 2013 for 9 performances – June 1, 6, 8, 13, 17, 20, 25, 27, 28 (7.30pm)

An Opera Undressed performance of The Perfect American will take place on Thursday 13 June. See www.eno.org/undress for more information.

In 2013-14 the Academy of Ancient Music will present its first London season exclusively at the Barbican, thereby becoming a central part of one of the world’s most vibrant artistic communities. Alongside large-scale performances in the Barbican Hall, the AAM gives five concerts at Milton Court Concert Hall, the Guildhall School’s new building, and latest addition to the growing ‘cultural quarter’ in the heart of the City of London. With a capacity of 608 seats the concert hall is the perfect venue for intimate baroque and classical performances.

The 40th anniversary season, led by Music Director Richard Egarr, displays the breadth of the AAM’s music making: starting at the dawn of the baroque with a stellar-cast performance of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607), and ending in the nineteenth century with Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 9 (1824). Along the way the AAM surveys the music of JS Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn and Mozart, and unearths lesser-known works of the composers of the Bach dynasty.

Highlights from the season include:

The AAM’s first London season exclusively at the Barbican, with concerts in the Barbican Hall and Milton Court Concert Hall which opens in September 2013

• · The start of a three-year cycle of Monteverdi operas beginning with L’Orfeo (28 September 2013)
• · Alina Ibragimova returns to direct the AAM in performances of Haydn and Mozart in the orchestra’s first concert in Milton Court Concert Hall (24 October 2013)
• · Soprano Anna Prohaska celebrates the golden age of English baroque music (21 November 2013)
• · Following an acclaimed debut last season Andreas Scholl returns to sing Pergolesi and is joined by soprano Camilla Tilling (31 January 2014)
• · Violinist Richard Tognetti directs the AAM in a concert of Vivaldi and Bach inspired by the Dresden Orchestra (27 February 2014)
• · Angelika Kirchschlager explores the vocal works of Haydn and Mozart with the AAM led by Richard Egarr from the fortepiano (March 2014)
• · Music Director Richard Egarr directs concertos and suites by JS Bach (27 May)
• · Richard Egarr and the AAM close its 40th birthday season with the ‘three last symphonies’ of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven (21 June 2014)