The June Guide

I recently read an article in The Independent by a DJ who calls himself Kissy Sell Out, who will have by now taken part in a debate at the Cambridge Union, which has as its motion proposing "Classical Music is irrelevant to todays youth". I have no idea what the outcome will be, nor do I care. All I know is that Mr Sell Out is both patronising and stupid when he writes that “music in a written form can never possess anything comparable to the visceral power of a sound recording” and that “classical music has always been a largely elitist form of artistic expression”. You might as well argue that Shakespeare, Jane Austin, Tolstoy and Kafka, or for that matter Michaelangelo, Caravaggio, Vermeer or Van Gogh, have nothing to say to young people. Perhaps the only problem with Classical Music is the word 'classical' – after all, Beethoven, Wagner, Stravinsky, have little to do with Greek and Roman culture (even if they occasionally invoke it in their works, as do the great authors and artists mentioned above). Great music is great music, whether it hails from the past or the present. How do we find an expression that distinguishes the superficiality of much, but not all, pop and rock culture and dance music, from what has genuine lasting relevance that transcends generations. A prize for the perfect phrase that can denominate 'Great Music' of all periods that can hold its own in the 21st century. There is a lot of it!

My own impression is that number of young people going to 'Classical' concerts, in London at any rate, is on the up. June, as always, is full of extraordinary events at all the leading venues, and even before the Promenade Concerts start at the Royal Albert Hall in mid July, the listener should never forget that there is an unending twenty-four-hour supply of 'Great Music' on BBC Radio 3. I particularly love a programme called Through the Night – perfect for insomniacs, where one can hear both wonderful works barely, if ever, performed, with well-known favourites, at least for an aficionado like myself.

Live Music: Martha Argerich, Pierre Boulez, Mozart & more
As regards live music, maybe there are fewer than usual symphony concerts that are a must, as London gears up to the Proms, nonetheless, at the Festival Hall, the summer season is ending with great artists such as Martha Argerich, one of the greatest of pianists, playing Schuman's Piano Concerto on the 7 June. Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez conducting the Berlin Staatskapelle on the 13 June. Pierre Boulez is perhaps the greatest composer/conductor since Gustav Mahler. Now over 80, if you haven't heard and seen him, you are missing out on being a witness to one of the great geniuses of our time. On the 21 June, Simon Rattle, the Liverpudlian chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic is conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in two Haydn Symphonies, and Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos, played by the Labèque sisters – the best known piano partnership of our age. Meanwhile, there is a lot of Mozart at the Barbican, including a concert performance on the 11 June of his extraordinarily powerful opera, Idomeneo, written at the age of 24 – a fact barely to be believed when you hear this drama about the King of Crete, who having been abandoned as lost at sea, is tossed up on shore only to face having to sacrifice his own son. Every song and every chorus in this work is expressive beyond measure, and as a piece, is unique in Mozart's output. The performance by the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble should be marvellous and equally so, performances by Le Cercle de l’Harmonie on the 28 June of Mozart's Mass in C Minor, a work as beautiful as his better known Requiem. At the Wigmore Hall, there are endless good concerts, including a recital by Daniel Barenboim no less, but that might be very hard to get in to. But I can very strongly recommend two performances on the 21/23 of June of Schubert's melodically stunning but tragic song cycle, called Die Schöene Müllerin (The Beautiful Miller's Daughter) sung by Mark Padmore, and Englishman whose singing in German is astonishing, and whose penetrating voice is unforgettable.

Opera Selections: Puccini's Tosca, Midsummer Night's Dream & more
At Covent Garden, there are good performances of Puccini's Tosca coming up, but an even better cast is on its way in July. They are also doing performances of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, a powerful opera that put British music on the map internationally forever after its first performance in 1945. It tells the story of the complex relationship of a fisherman and his apprentice lad, and how both meet their death following the approbation of the local Suffolk fishing village. English National Opera at the Colosseum,  are ending their season very promisingly with performances of Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, and everything I hear about the production by Christopher Alden suggests that its going to be full of controversial sexual innuendo. But the fact remains that the music is amongst Britten's most romantically beautiful and there is, as ever, a very promising cast, including Sir Willard White as Bottom, and Anna Christy as Titania, who was so extraordinary a year or two back as Lucia di Lammermoor. Another very powerful opera is Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, telling a great public/private drama, set in 14th century Genoa. There have been many wonderful musical performances at Covent Garden over the years, but the production there is very boring. This new ENO staging by a young Russian director, Dmitri Tcherniakov whose work has gained many plaudits internationally, should dramatically rectify this situation for London audiences. And finally at ENO, to complete the circle of dubious sexual innuendo, as suggested by Peter Grimes, there is the curiously and eagerly awaited world premier of Nico Muhly's opera entitled Two Boys. Next season, this opera is going to be staged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. What London audiences, let alone the conservative New York audiences will make of an opera that seems to have as its central subject matter, gay cyber sex, heaven only knows – one can only hope that the music by the talented young American composer, now the toast of the New York music scene will conquer all.

Summer Festivals Begin
The festival season is now in full swing. It is worth checking out on the web Spitalfields Festival, the City of London Festival. And then of course, there are the grand country house opera festivals at Garsington – now in a new venue not far from Oxford, in the gardens of Wormsley, a house belonging to Mark Getty. I am especially intrigued by an opera by Vivaldi, the 18th century Venetian composer of The Seasons, called La verità in cimento (The truth will out). I recently heard one of his operas in Paris, having previously been rather snooty about him, and was unexpectedly thrilled by the music. Then there is Grange Park near Winchester, run by the redoubtable Wasfi Kani, who also stages musical extravaganzas in some of Britain's high security jails! They have a very ambitious season this year including Wagner's Tristan and Isolde no less. And what should one say about Glyndebourne near Lewes in Sussex, which looks as though it is about to enjoy a vintage season. Of course all these places are expensive to visit, but in fact, no more than many an important football match or rock concert. Glyndebourne especially, has such high musical and production standards, it is worth splashing out for one of the great and unforgettable experiences anywhere in the world. And usually in the last minute, it is possible to get tickets!

Norman Rosenthal spent more than thirty years as director of exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts. Since he was nine-years-old, he has been haunting London's many concert and opera venues, large and small, absorbing classical, opera and contemporary music, all of which he enjoys in equal measure.