1 The Elixir Of Love
Each autumn, Scottish Opera heads for the highlands and islands with a stripped-down production – an orchestra of just five players – of a well-known repertory piece. This time, it’s Donizetti’s perennial favourite, in a PG Wodehouse-inspired production directed by Oliver Platt.
MacRobert Arts Centre, Stirling, Sat; Elgin Town Hall, Mon; MacPhail Theatre, Ullapool, Thu
2 Myths And Rituals
The Philharmonia completes its Stravinsky series with a pair of concerts featuring some of his neoclassical masterpieces. There’s a rare performance of the austere melodrama Perséphone, alongside the ballets Orpheus and Apollon Musagète (Sun); then a semi-staging of opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex, followed by the Symphony Of Psalms (Thu).
Royal Festival Hall, SE1, Sun & Thu
3 Kiss Me, Kate
The final production in Welsh National Opera’s brilliantly varied Shakespeare-themed autumn season is Cole Porter’s riff on The Taming Of The Shrew.
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Thu to 2 Oct
4 Mariinsky Orchestra
Valery Gergiev and his fine orchestra are not exactly strangers to London audiences, but they are back in the capital once again for a series that packs the symphonies and Prokofiev’s string concertos into just three concerts.
5 Don Giovanni
It’s a belated start to the ENO’s slimmed-down new season, but the opening show looks to be a highlight of the year at the Coliseum. A Richard Jones production of Mozart, it’s a real rarity and the cast promises to be a good one, too.
