The RNCM celebrates the ‘classics’ of classical music with an electrifying series of unmissable concerts

On Thu 20 Jun, RNCM Vocal and Conducting students reimagine a series of timeless operatic vignettes in an evening of enchanting staged scenes, featuring sequences from Handel’s Alcina, Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, Offenbach’s La Perichole and more.

The following evening, the RNCM’s International Chair in Choral Conducting David Hill leads an evening of soaring music performed by the Chamber Orchestra.

The programme begins with Bach, whose transcendent, trailblazing understanding of vocal layering and nuanced harmonies manifests as profound spiritual expression in his sweeping yet delicate Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen or ‘The Ascension Oratorio’.

Partly inspired by Bach’s works during his own creative process, Mozart transports audiences on a visceral odyssey through dark sentiment and unbridled pageantry with his masterful Great Mass in C Minor, a fabled arrangement which was left unfinished upon his death.

Featuring new work from student composer Emily Pederson and a memorable turn from concerto competition winner Winnie Su, the RNCM Symphony Orchestra returns to The Bridgewater Hall for another electrifying annual celebratory concert with an unmissable programme featuring Beethoven’s triumphant Piano Concerto No.4 in G Major, alongside Mahler’s totemic Symphony No 1 in D major ‘Titan’.

Derided as ‘grotesque’ by audiences and critics upon its debut, Mahler’s controversial composition was altered and re-written several times on its way to becoming a definitive opus of epic heroism and existential contemplation.