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The Best Bits
17th April 2026
Hello friends,
This week's newsletter is partly inspired by Artemis II's lunar fly-by mission, which concluded just after last week's newsletter had been shipped. Composers have drawn inspiration from the Moon and space since long before space travel could even be imagined, and we've picked just three of a very long list.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, you can enjoy streams from Garsington, Miami Beach, Leeds and Frankfurt this week, and get your diaries ready to plan your concert- and opera-going lives well into 2027.
Elisabeth and Jo
SPONSORED
Czech Philharmonic 2026-27
The new season of the Czech Philharmonic has been announced, featuring local favourites Dvořák and Smetana, many conducted by Semyon Bychkov, but also rarities such as Berwald's Third Symphony (conducted by Herbert Blomstedt). Expect plenty of Beethoven too, 200 years after his death.
SPONSORED
London Symphony Orchestra 2026-27
Sir Antonio Pappano opens the London Symphony Orchestra's new season with Mahler's mighty Resurrection Symphony. The continuation of Pappano's Vaughan Williams cycle is another highlight, along with regular guests Sir Simon Rattle, Barbara Hannigan and Gianandrea Noseda.
The Bachtrack Insiders
Personal picks from our site
Mark Pullinger Editor
Maxim Vengerov
Last weekend, I had the great pleasure of hearing Maxim Vengerov in concert for the first time in over a decade. He was playing the same violin concerto I heard back then too – Tchaikovsky's – and I'm pleased to report he still has the same rich, mahogony tone. Here's a 2017 performance from Lucerne with Vengerov joined by the Shanghai Symphony and Long Yu.
Elisabeth Schwarz Editor
Bon Appétit! 🍰
After last week's Coffee Cantata, I am ending my culinary musical journey with Lee Hoiby’s mini opera Bon Appétit!, based on a television cooking lesson by Julia Child – you might remember Meryl Streep in the film Julie & Julia! Here, mezzo-soprano Joyce Castle portrays the master chef as she prepares Le Gateau au Chocolate l’Eminence Brune.
Jo Johnson Head of Marketing
Play on, Shakespeare
The most influential figure on classical music from the literary world surely has to be William Shakespeare, who was born and died on 23rd April 1564/1616. In our database, we currently have 754 reviews of works related to his writings, many of them opera or ballet, where his plays and dramas translate perfectly. A decade ago, we created a playlist of Shakespeare-inspired works for the 400th anniversary of his death. These are merely the tip of a very large iceberg.
What's hot? 🔥
New opera seasons
New season announcements are always hotly anticipated here at Bachtrack Towers, and none more so than the big opera seasons. Recently unwrapped include the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera, Opéra National de Paris and the Wiener Staatsoper – which we have of course added to our listings on Bachtrack to help you plan your year. Click below to see all the opera listings from September, but do keep checking back because the announcements keep on coming!
Out and about
Our tips on what to see live in the UK this week
SPONSORED
Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us
Royal Festival Hall, London
25th April
Alban Berg’s devastating opera thrums with drama: feel its power at this collaboration between the London Philharmonic Orchestra and film-maker Ilya Shagalov in this one-off concert staging, with Edward Gardner on the podium.
Wayne McGregor: Alchemies
Royal Opera House, London
Opens 18th April
The world premiere of a new ballet by Wayne McGregor, alongside Yugen, a poetic response to Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Untitled, 2023, his powerful artistic collaboration with Carmen Herrera.
Cristian Măcelaru/Nicola Benedetti
Anvil, Basingstoke
18th April
Elgar thought his Violin Concerto among the best of all his works; here the Philharmonia accompanies Nicola Benedetti. Cristian Măcelaru conducts water-themed works by Cécile Chaminade and Claude Debussy.
Magdalena Kožená & Azul Lima
Wigmore Hall, London
21st April
Laments, confessions of undying love and the guilt-tinged miniatures of Brett Dean’s Gertrude Fragments take their place alongside lute works ancient and modern in this unmissable programme from Magdalena Kožená and Azul Lima.
Live to your living room
The best streamed content to watch this week
Rodelinda
Garsington Opera
Ruth Knight untangles Handel's Rodelinda in last year's ravishing new production which features a feast of fine singing from a brilliant English cast, including Lucy Crowe, Tim Mead and Hugh Cutting.
From 17th April
Miami Beach
Miami City Ballet and New World Symphony join forces for an evening of American music and dance
Live 18th April
Leeds
Joseph Middleton and Marianne Crebassa perform an exquisite recital of Debussy to Mahler at Leeds Song
Available now
Frankfurt am Main
Alain Altinoglu conducts Stravinsky's Rite of Spring after a loud first half of all- Khachaturian
Live 17th April
Three of the best...
...works inspired by Artemis II's photos of Earth from the dark side of the Moon
Rusalka: Song to the Moon
The water nymph Rusalka sings her "Song to the Moon", asking it to tell the prince of her love... Watch Asmik Grigorian in Christof Loy's heart-breaking production at Teatro Real.
Brett Dean: Komarov's Fall
Depicting Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov’s fatal 1967 mission on board Soyuz I, Dean's work was written as a companion piece or "asteroid" to complement Gustav Holst’s Planets Suite. Hugh Wolff conducts the Sydney Symphony.
Eric Whitacre: Goodnight Moon
A sweet lullaby written for Whitacre's small son sets the text of Margaret Wise Brown’s bedtime book for children. Written for soprano – his then-wife Hila Plitmann – harp and string orchestra, it was later revised for choir, sung here by Choras Bel Canto, Vilnius, and conducted by the composer.
Riddle Me This...
What have we hidden in the anagram below?
Critics' Corner
What our reviewers watched
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Photography credits:
Sir Antonio Pappano © Mark Allan;
Wiener Staatsoper © Victoria Nazarova;
Rodelinda © Craig Fuller, Dance © Ahmad Odeh | Unsplash, Marianne Crebassa © Apple and Biscuit Productions, Alain Altinoglu © hr | Ben Knabe;
Earth from the Moon © NASA | Public Domain;
Marianne Crebassa © Apple and Biscuit Productions, Kirsty Taylor-Stokes (Salome) © Steve Gregson, Seong-Jin Cho © Chris Lee;
