Prom 48: Periodically sublime late night Bach

By Alex Tay, 23 August 2015

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“Sophie Bevan sang with supreme serenity and control”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 21 August 2015

Bach, Missa in G minor, BWV235

Bach, Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in F major, BWV1047

Bach, Magnificat in D major, BWV243

Sophie Bevan, Soprano

Rebecca Evans, Soprano

Iestyn Davies, Countertenor

Nicky Spence, Tenor

Roderick Williams, Baritone

BBC Singers

Academy of Ancient Music

David Hill, Conductor

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

Cummings and the AAM win ‘Leipzig's Got Talent’

Nick Boston, 16th April

The Academy of Ancient Music poses the question what might have been in Leipzig with stunning performances of Bach and his competitors to be the new Thomaskantor.

*****

Freudian slip: Handel’s Tamerlano recast as Trumpian tantrums

Mark Pullinger, 26th March

Opha Phelan’s staging presents the action as a grand, Freudian social experiment. It’s a risk – but the production is lifted by outstanding performances from the cast and the Academy of Ancient Music.

***11

Ed Lyon excels in Monteverdi’s Songs of Love and War

Stephen Pritchard, 12th February

Tenor Ed Lyon fulfils a long-held ambition to sing Monteverdi's Eighth Book of Madrigals, conducted by his former teacher, Laurence Cummings at Milton Court.

*****

Strong team for a Good Friday St John Passion

Roy Westbrook, 18th April

The greatest music of the 18th century – no arguments, please – is given a fine reading at London's Barbican.

****1

Academy of Ancient Music delivers a majestic Messiah

Charlotte Gardner, 16th December

Laurence Cummings and the AAM serve up Messiah-shaped serenity at the Barbican.

****1

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Alex Tay

Alex Tay is a recent graduate from King's College, Cambridge, where he studied Music. He is an enthusiastic composer, violinist and has strong interests in arts administration. He has had works performed in venues such as West Road Concert Hall, Kings College Chapel and the Royal Albert Hall. Last year Alex held the position of Cambridge University Music Society Joint-Composer-in-Residence which culminated in a commission for the Harrison Birtwistle Secret Theatres Festival. More recently Alex has been announced winner of the Britten Sinfonia Cambridge Composition Workshop. Next year Alex will be studying an Mphil in composition at Churchill College Cambridge.