1 The Snow Maiden
Fairytales provide the starting points for all three works in Opera North’s spring season, which opens with Rimsky-Korsakov’s sumptuous version of the Russian legend of the girl with the heart of ice. Aoife Miskelly is the snow maiden herself, who is defrosted by love with tragic results.
The Grand Theatre & Opera House, Leeds, Saturday 21 Jan to Friday 24 Feb
2 Fidelio
Belief And Beyond Belief (to 16 December) is the Southbank Centre’s latest blockbuster festival. The London Philharmonic get the event under way with a concert staging of Beethoven’s only opera. Vladimir Jurowski conducts and Daniel Slater directs.
Royal Festival Hall, SE1, Saturday 21 Jan
3 Back In The USSR
As the Bournemouth Symphony’s chief conductor, Kirill Karabits has shown how broad his musical sympathies are. But the Russian repertoire brings out the best in him. Here, Shostakovich’s monumental Eighth Symphony is prefaced by Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto, with soloist Valeriy Sokolov.
Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre For The Arts, Wednesday 25 Jan; The Guildhall, Portsmouth, Thursday 26 Jan
4 The Trial
Music Theatre Wales toured Philip Glass’s clear, effective version of Kafka’s novel around England and Wales in 2014. Now, Michael McCarthy’s production comes to Scottish Opera.
Theatre Royal Glasgow, Tuesday 24 Jan, Thu 26 Jan and Saturday 28 Jan; touring to Saturday 4 Feb
5 Strange Productions
Mezzo Alice Coote’s latest recital with pianist Julius Drake explores the human mind. There’s Dominick Argento’s From The Diary Of Virginia Woolf, Schumann’s Kerner Lieder, and a world premiere by Nico Muhly, commissioned by Wigmore Hall.
Wigmore Hall, W1, Friday 27 Jan
