8 Jan 2020
2019 was a rewarding year for us; we made debuts in seven countries worldwide, showcased two new opera productions and visited some of Europe’s finest concert halls, working alongside fantastic soloists, directors and organisations and performing music spanning over 300 years of the classical repertoire. As the new year opens, we now look forward to what promises to be a landmark 2020 for the Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and English Baroque Soloists.
Beethoven 250: The Symphonies and Missa solemnis
This season marks both the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth and 30 years since the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique was first formed following a performance of the composer’s Missa solemnis.
The ORR and John Eliot Gardiner celebrate these twin milestones with a momentous transatlantic tour beginning in February, presenting complete cycles of Beethoven’s symphonies in residencies at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Chicago’s Harris Theater and New York’s Carnegie Hall, where this season Gardiner is a 2019/20 Perspectives Artist. Then in May, the ensemble brings the series to London’s Barbican Centre, before finishing the tour at a major European festival (to be announced in due course). Joining the ORR for performances of the 9th Symphony will be the Monteverdi Choir and a stellar quartet of soloists: Lucy Crowe (soprano), Jess Dandy (contralto), Ed Lyon (tenor) and Tareq Nazmi (bass).
Continuing the celebrations in September, the ORR returns to the work that was the catalyst for its inception 30 years ago, performing Beethoven’s Missa solemnis at a series of prestigious European festivals. We look forward to announcing more details of our Missa solemnis tour in the new year.
For more information on our Beethoven 250 celebrations, click here.
Monteverdi Sacred & Secular
In April, the forces behind our acclaimed 2017 Monteverdi Trilogy world tour reunite with John Eliot Gardiner to explore the richness and emotional intensity of the composer’s more intimate music.
This programme juxtaposes works from Monteverdi’s sacred collection Selva morale e spirituale with songs from his 6th and 8th book of Madrigals, evoking the composer’s world at the highly cultured court of the Dukes of Gonzaga in Mantua, and later, in the republic of Venice. Led by John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, and a group of brilliant young soloists present this exploration of Monteverdi’s sacred and secular works on a tour of Europe’s finest concert halls.
For more info on the programme, soloists, and how to buy tickets, click here.
Fauré Requiem
As well as the Beethoven 250 tours, the Monteverdi Choir, ORR and John Eliot Gardiner perform works by three other major Romantic composers in 2020. In May and June the ensembles return to two of Europe’s famous music festivals: the Salzburger Festpiele and the Festival de Saint-Denis, as well as the Teatro Udine and another Italian venue (to be announced in due course).
Anchored by Fauré‘s enduring setting of the requiem mass, this programme features three further contemplative works of the 19th century: Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été and Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody and Vier Gesänge Op. 17. World-renowned singers Ann Hallenberg and Stéphane Degout join together with the Monteverdi ensembles to feature as the soloists in Berlioz’s song cycle, and sing individual roles in Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody and Fauré‘s Requiem respectively.
Click here for more information and to buy tickets.
Monteverdi | Carissimi | Scarlatti at the Aldeburgh Festival
Finally, we’re very excited to be visiting the annual Aldeburgh Festival in June!
The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, led by John Eliot Gardiner, bring a critically acclaimed programme of choral masterpieces to the UK for a special one-off performance on Tuesday 16 June 2020. The ensembles perform Monteverdi’s Messa a quattro voce voci da capella alongside works by Purcell, Carissimi and Scarlatti, a programme which recently received fantastic reviews in Russia, Slovakia and South America.
Tickets will be on sale from Tuesday 18 February 2020. For more information, click here.
