Plenty of outstanding music around the UK this year distracted us from woes about the planet and Brexit, but a deafening cry of #MeToo added a note of dissonance. Conservatoires and specialist music schools have come under scrutiny. Individuals at every level have been reprimanded, including top opera stars, starting – amid great upset – with the veteran tenor-turned-baritone Plácido Domingo. His long and glorious career is over in the States, but European houses still welcome him, wanting more proof to substantiate allegations. He is still due to sing at the Royal Opera House in 2020, where the 42-year-old Italian star tenor Vittorio Grigolo has been suspended following an incident on tour with the company in Japan. This is an unfolding story of endemic sexual abuse across the industry, and how to establish a way forward.
Artistically, the Royal Opera has had a gilded year, with a string of triumphs: Káťa Kabanová, Agrippina, Death in Venice among them. So too have our regional companies: Welsh National Opera’s ambitious Freedom season provoked thought. Opera North reminded us of the contemporary relevance and power of Martinů’s The Greek Passion. Scottish Opera gave us stimulating new works: Stuart MacRae’s Anthropocene and Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves. English Touring Opera, doing sterling work on the tightest budget, encouraged singers from around the country to join them in Kurt Weill’s The Silver Lake, paired with deft and lively Mozart (The Seraglio). English National Opera raised hopes for the future with the appointment of Annilese Miskimmon as artistic director.
Companies away from the mainstream continue to make inroads: east London’s Grimeborn festival, based at the Arcola theatre, had a bumper season. Shadwell Opera made a mark with Eight Songs for a Mad King. The Manchester Collective showed how streamlined musicians can bring adventure to concert life. Kings Place has been doing that all year with Venus Unwrapped, making women composers the focus. Aurora Orchestra, fearless and versatile, continues to amaze. The UK leads the way with offbeat musical adventure. It doesn’t have to be in a car park or bunker. Wigmore Hall boasts plenty of quiet subversion too.
The major UK orchestras are preparing for changes at the top: Vasily Petrenko, popular principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, announced he would move to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. At the Southbank, Esa-Pekka Salonen, stepping down at the Philharmonia, will be succeeded by the young Finn, Santtu-Matias Rouvali. Vladimir Jurowski’s successor at the London Philharmonic is Edward Gardner. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra have snaffled the exciting young Russian conductor and harpsichordist Maxim Emelyanychev. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra won particular recognition for its work with disabled musicians through its Change Makers and Resound programmes. The Barbican embraced the world, from Chineke! to the LA Phil. And the BBC Symphony Orchestra introduced us to the vigorous, chilling power of William Alwyn’s Miss Julie, superbly performed by all. Time for a full staging.
In a strong year for books on music, Oliver Soden’s generous, game-changing biography of Michael Tippett topped the list. John Bridcut’s TV film about Dame Janet Baker was beautiful and touching (and returns to BBC Four on 30 December). Many important musical figures left us: the conductor Mariss Jansons, the soprano Jessye Norman, the Kings College, Cambridge choral director Stephen Cleobury, the baroque pioneer Raymond Leppard, the pianist Márta Kurtág, the composer Giya Kancheli. The 90-year-old Bernard Haitink retired from conducting, still full of life. The best news story of the year? The return, thanks to social media, of a £250,000 violin after it disappeared from a train. Twitter has its uses.
The top 10 classical music performances of 2019
1. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Tower Ballroom, Birmingham
BOC and Graham Vick’s 50th production, the best yet: scorching, raw, terrific.
2. Agrippina
Royal Opera House, London
Starry Handelian cast led by Joyce DiDonato in Barrie Kosky’s gleaming staging.
3. Donnerstag aus Licht
Royal Festival Hall, London
All-singing, all-dancing, all-playing Stockhausen epic brought back to life.
4. The Greek Passion
Leeds Grand
Refugees flee to a Greek island in Martinů’s timely but rarely seen work.
5. Brundibár
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Hans Krása’s 1938 children’s opera brought to touching and optimistic life.
6. Breaking the Waves
King’s theatre, Edinburgh European premiere of this dark, powerful opera by Missy Mazzoli.
7. Tenebrae
Aldeburgh festival
Top singing of Byrd, Tallis and James MacMillan at sunset in Blythburgh church.
8. Abomination: A DUP Opera
Lyric theatre, Belfast
Brave, bold yet comic work by Conor Mitchell making us rethink language.
9. Orphée/The Mask of Orpheus
Coliseum, London
ENO’s eye-catching stagings of challenging works by Philip Glass and Harrison Birtwistle.
10. Harawi: Songs of Love and Death
Oxford lieder festival
Soprano Gweneth Ann Rand and pianist Simon Lepper radiate heat in Messiaen’s song cycle.
Turkey
Orpheus in the Underworld
Coliseum, London
Offenbach’s long-suffering Orpheus gets stuck in comedic purgatory.
