My 10 best concerts and operas for 2024

Posted byJohnPosted inUncategorized

After a lot of heart-searching, and In no particular order, these were:

1.            Bruckner 8: Halle/Elder, Newcastle

2.            R.Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten: Thielemann – Dresden Semperoper

3.            Britten Curlew River: Bostridge, Aldeburgh

4.            Wagner, Tannhauser: Bayreuth Festival

5.            Bruckner 5: Berlin Philharmonic, Petrenko, BBC Proms

6.            Bruckner 9 (+ performing version of finale): Halle, Wong – Manchester

7.            Busoni; Piano Concerto: Gerstein/Oramo BBCSO – Barbican

8.            Shostakovich 13th Symphony: LPO/ Boreyko, Roslavets – RFH

9.            Pfitzner, Palestrina: Thielemann, Wiener Staatsoper

10.          Mahler 6 – BRSO, Rattle, BBC Proms

As with 2023, there were a range of other concerts and operas which were almost equally as excellent, including: R. Strauss, Elektra – ROHCG/Pappano; Shostakovich 4 – LSO, Rattle; Death in Venice – WNO; Gotterdammerung – Jurowski, LPO; Jenufa – ENO; L’Olimpiade – ROHCG; Schubert piano sonatas D958/D959/D960 – Paul Lewis; Beethoven Op 131 quartet– Belcea Quartet; Janacek Glagolitic Mass’ – Czech Phil/Hrusa; Smetana, Ma Vlast/Schumann Piano Concerto – Petrenko/Olafsson, BPO; R. Strauss, Salome – Opera Bastille, Lise Davidsen; Puccini, La Rondine – LSO, Pappano; Weinberg, The Idiot – Salzburg Festival.

I feel very privileged to be able to attend all these wonderful musical events and feel very lucky to be living in a time which allows such (relatively) easy access to them 

Published by John

I'm a grandfather, parent, churchwarden, traveller, chair of governors and trustee!. I worked for an international cultural and development organisation for 39 years, and lived for extended periods of time in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Ghana. I know a lot about (classical) music, but not as a practitioner, (particularly noisy late Romantics - Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner, Richard Strauss). I am well travelled and interested in different cultures and traditions. Apart from going to concerts and operas, I love reading, walking in the hills, theatre and wine-making. I'm also a practising Christian, though not of the fierce kind. And I'm into green issues and sustainability.

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