1 Music in Twelve Parts
The Barbican hosts a performance of the most famous of Philip Glass’s early scores, now established as one of the classics of 1970s minimalism. Previous performances have always been given by Glass’s own ensemble but, for the first time, a specially assembled collection of instrumentalists led by James McVinnie will play the four-hour score.
Barbican Hall, EC2, 1 May
2 The Brandenburgs
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment take what are perhaps JS Bach’s most famous orchestral works on tour. Most of the period-instrument performances include all six of the Brandenburg Concertos.
St John’s Smith Square, SW1, 2 May; Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 4 May; touring to 19 May
3 Late Style
After programmes centred on Brahms and Beethoven, the last of pianist Jonathan Biss’s late-works recitals is devoted to Schubert. Biss himself plays the centrepiece of Schubert’s final triptych of piano sonatas, the A major D 959.
Milton Court, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, EC2, 2 May
4 Opus Clavicembalisticum
A monstrosity to some, a masterpiece to others, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s work was the longest piece for solo piano ever when it was completed in 1930. Jonathan Powell tackles it here.
St Michael & All Angels, Brighton, 5 May
5 Russia in the Round
Ensemble 360 has put a Russian spin on its chamber-music festival this year. The opening concert is devoted to Glazunov and Tchaikovsky, and there’s an evening that transforms the Crucible Studio Theatre into a 1940s Moscow concert hall.
Crucible Theatre Studio, Sheffield, 5-13 May
