1 The Last Supper
Sixteen years since it was last seen in Britain, Birtwistle’s opera is revived in a semi-staging with Martyn Brabbins conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
2 The Snow Maiden
Opera North’s winter season is all about fairy stories. New productions of Hansel And Gretel and La Cenerentola come later, but kicking it off is Rimsky-Korsakov’s sumptuous Russian folk tale. Aoife Miskelly heads the cast as the girl whose heart is made of ice.
Grand Theatre, Leeds, 21 Jan to 24 Feb; touring to 24 Mar
3 Le Vin Herbé
Alongside two Puccini revivals in the Welsh National Opera’s spring season, a real rarity. Frank Martin’s take on the legend of Tristan And Isolde is a chamber opera, worlds away from Wagner’s famous version. With James Southall conducting, Polly Graham stages this intimate three-hander. Tom Randle is Tristan and Jurgita Adamonytė is Iseult.
Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 16 Feb; touring to 25 Apr
4 St Luke Passion
The Belief And Beyond Belief festival provides a chance to hear Vladimir Jurowski conduct one of the 60s’ most celebrated scores. Krzysztof Penderecki’s choral work cemented his place among the avant garde.
Royal Festival Hall, SE1, 4 Mar
5 Australian Chamber Orchestra
Richard Tognetti and his outstanding band present a celebration of their homeland, followed by two programmes of Mozart and Shostakovich, plus Tognetti’s arrangements of Beethoven and Brahms.
