I am looking ahead after a busy and intense Easter period of Matthew Passions. Highlights included performing with Antwerp Symphony and Laurence Cummings, Amsterdam Concertgebouworkest with Klaus Makela and a King’s College Cambridge BBC broadcast with Daniel Hyde. These concerts were followed by two Haydn Creations with Paul McCreesh in Bucharest.
Now, I look forward to performances of Handel’s Agrippina in June in Rouen, Normandy, with David Bates conducting in Robert Carsen’s fabulous production from Vienna. Later in June I sing the Dream of Gerontius in St Albans and in July, a lovely recital of Purcell and John Blow with Peter Seymour at the York Early Music Festival.
Later this season I will tackle new Handel repertoire to me. I have long wanted to perform Saul, and I will perform that with Paul McCreesh and his wonderful Gabrieli Roar team in Ely Cathedral. Other new Handel works include L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato in Warsaw with Nicholas McGegan and Belshazzar with the Dunedin Consort in Vienna and London.
I am thrilled to take another look at Schubert’s Winterreise with Anna Markland in December and there will be many more things in the Autumn that will keep me fully occupied.
This coming season seems to be dominated by performances of Bach and Handel. (No surprise there!). JS Bach’s B minor Mass will be performed at La Chaise Dieu Festival with John Butt and the Dunedin Consort on August 23rd, on November 1st in Dublin with the Irish Baroque Orchestra with Peter Whelan, and in December I will be with Richard Egarr and the Netherlands Bach Society performing throughout Holland, Naarden on December 11, 16 and 19th, Utrecht (12) Zwolle (14), Amsterdam (17), Den Haag (18), Tilburg (19) and Haarlem (21). So, this music, already in my bones, will be a joy to perform, and all with the finest players in Europe.
On top of these trips I’ll be rehearsing and performing Handel’s Susannah with Opera North and the Phoenix Dance Company, with performances in Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham and Salford in October and November. It is a new production and I’m really looking forward to seeing how director Olivia Fuchs and conductor Johanna Soller shape this rarely performed piece.
Later in the season I’ll be returning to perform the role of Claudio in Handel’s Agrippina. This time in the wonderful production by Robert Carsen, conducted by David Bates, in Rouen, France. I will also be performing Purcell’s Fairy Queen in London and Switzerland with Paul McCreesh in November.
I’m also really looking forward to singing with Hans Christoph Rademann and his fabulous BachAcademi Stuttgart in February 2026 singing MacMillan and Purcell.
Passion season will be very busy with highlights including a couple of Matthew Passions with Klaus Makela and his wondrous Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and Baden Baden.
I’m delighted to announce our recording of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas has been honoured with the Premio Abbiati del Disco by the Associazione Nazionale Critici Musicali.
This recording has a wonderful cast list and is directed by David Bates and his team at La Nuova Musica. You’ll find it on the Pentatone label. Look it up, it is full of colour and energy.