Cummings and the AAM bring the house down with Samson at the Proms

Allan Clayton and the Academy of Ancient Music

Jacquelyn Stucker and Joélle Harvey

Brindley Sherratt and the Academy of Ancient Music

Laurence Cummings conducts the Academy of Ancient Music

By Nick Boston, 24 August 2023

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“Brindley Sherratt was in danger of stealing the show... his arresting presence dominating the stage”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 23 August 2023

Handel, Samson

Laurence Cummings, Conductor, Harpsichord

Academy of Ancient Music

Philharmonia Chorus

Allan Clayton, Samson

Jacquelyn Stucker, Delilah

Joélle Harvey, Israelite woman

Jess Dandy, Micah

Brindley Sherratt, Harapha

Jonathan Lemalu, Manoah

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

Actéon and Pygmalion: three transformations for the price of two

Roy Westbrook, 9th October

Ovid’s Metamorphoses makes an ideal curtain-raiser to the Academy of Ancient Music's new season, with works by Charpentier and Rameau conducted by Laurence Cummings... who also sings!

****1

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Nick Boston

Nick has an MA in Music, specialising in performance and repertoire. His particular passions are choral music, chamber music and opera, with a particular interest in early music. He sings in a number of choirs in the south east of England, plays the piano and occasionally dusts off the violin. He writes about music here.

Cummings and the AAM bring the house down with Samson at the BBC Proms