1 Tansy Davies study day
Musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music give two concerts of Davies’s chamber music in this portrait of the increasingly impressive composer. The programmes include some of her most striking early works, including Troubaritz for soprano and percussion, and the miniature concerto for saxophone and ensemble, Iris.
Wigmore Hall, W1, 13 May
2 Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra
One of China’s leading orchestras tours the UK for the first time. They play European repertory works by Britten and Stravinsky, as well as two of the orchestra’s commissions from Chinese composers: Ye Xiaogang’s Guangdong Music Suite, and Zhao Lin’s Duo for cello, sheng and orchestra.
London, 14 May; Manchester, 15 May; Birmingham, 16 May
3 Monteverdi
The 450th anniversary of Monteverdi’s birth looms large at this year’s London festival of baroque music (to 20 May), with performances of his two most celebrated works. The choir of Vox Luminis joins forces with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra for the Vespers of 1610 (14 May), while I Fagiolini presents a semi-staging of L’Orfeo, the first operatic masterpiece (18 May).
St John’s Smith Square, SW1
4 Y Tŵr
The premiere of Guto Puw’s two-hander, Music Theatre Wales’ first-ever commission of an opera in Welsh, launches this year’s Vale of Glamorgan festival. Caryl Hughes and Gwion Thomas are the protagonists in Michael McCarthy’s production, with a libretto by Gwyneth Glyn based on Gwenlyn Parry’s play.
Sherman Cymru, Cardiff, 19-20 May
