The Ref

On March 11th, 2020, hours before the United States came to a grinding halt due to the pandemic,The Brothers gathered at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Allman Brothers Band. The concert would prove to be the last public outing for many attendees-as well as the musicians onstage-for over a year. This only added to the mysticism of the event that closed the book on half a century of musical tradition. Featuring performances by original ABB drummer Jaimoe alongside extended
Allman family members Duane Trucks, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Oteil Burbridge, and Marc Quinones, The Brothers also sees special appearances by original pre-ABB project Second Coming keyboardist Reese Wynans as well as Chuck Leavell, who played with the band from 1972 to 1976.

The Shadows long and influential career has spanned 6 decades, with hit singles or albums in every one of them. Hank Marvin s guitar playing has been an inspiration to hordes of guitarists down the years, including the likes of Brian May, Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend. Over a decade since their last tour, Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett reunited as The Shadows for The Final Tour, which kicked off in spring 2004. A sell out everywhere, the band played to over 90,000 people in the UK. This concert was recorded at Cardiff s International Arena on June 5. The tracklisting includes an astonishing 23 UK top ten hits, of which no less than 8 were No.1 s, together with other favourite Shadows tracks.

Jonathan Kent's spectacular production of Purcell's huge semi-opera is joyous, imaginative and witty Glyndebourne, with its intimate auditorium, provides the perfect setting for a drama which is partly spoken and partly sung. Based on an adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the story is lavished with a brilliance that justifies this production's acclaim. Paul Brown's inventive designs, Kim Brandstrup's exquisite choreography, an excellent cast of actors and singers and outstanding playing by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under William Christie combine to make a seamless theatrical experience, here recorded in High Definition and true surround sound.

Mozart's final opera returns to Glyndebourne after an absence of nearly 20years in a 'stark, compelling and very well acted' production directed byClaus Guth. Richard Croft sings the title role 'with exemplary stylistic poiseand tonal sweetness', and Anna Stéphany is a Sesto 'touchingly full of angstand remorse… with terrific élan and immaculate technical control' in thearias (The Telegraph) - her "Parto, Parto" 'simply breathtaking' (The Guardian). Guth's vision sets the 1st-century Roman story in a two-storeyoffice suite bureaucracy 'exquisitely lit by Olaf Winter', aptly framing thescheming of Vitelia, sung by Alice Coote 'in terrific form'. The OAE underRobin Ticciati 'brings out the sheer beauty' of Mozart's score (Express).

Perhaps no opera is closely and affectionately associated with a single house as Le nozze di Figaro is with Glyndebourne. Effortlessly witty yet shot through with pain and sadness, this deeply ambivalent life in the day of masters and servants as they scheme and outwit one another was Glyndebourne's opening production in 1934. Michael Grandage's staging is the seventh, set in a louche Sixties ambience. Marshalled by the 'ideal pacing of Robin Ticciati, a youthful cast of principals has 'no weak link' and 'looks gorgeous' (The Sunday Times) in a production that continues Glyndebourne's rewarding history of engagement with Mozart's and da Ponte's 'day of madness'.

David McVicar's production of Giulio Cesare manages to combine serious insight with entertainment, bringing Handel´s masterpiece to life in a powerful, convincing and highly intelligent way. In every line of the complex narrative the subtle nuances are apparent, reflecting perfectly the transparent and exquisite nature of Handel's musical expression.

Director David McVicar's original-period vision for this Mozartian gem allows its genius to speak for itself, offering a mesmerising, sensitive outstanding portrayal of Enlightenment-era fascination with the East that is both exquisitely acted and sung, featuring a Konstanze and a Belmonte sung with finesse and bravura and a sensationally voiced Osmin (The Guardian *****). Comic relief in Glyndebourne's brilliant production is provided by beautifully sung live-wire performances of Pedrillo and Blonde, and Robin Ticciati leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment through a restored, authentic rendition of the critical score with lovely fizz and poignant gravitas (The Independent).

Glyndebournes Saul stole the summer and had critics raving. The Guardian (****) applauded virtuoso stagecraft from director Barrie Kosky in his debut production there, calling the show a theatrical and musical feast of energetic choruses, surreal choreography and gorgeous singing. For The Independent, which ranked it amongst five top classical and opera performances of 2015, there was no praise too high for the cast. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Ivor Bolton sparkles from the pit with period panache, and designer Katrin Lea Tags exuberant costumes (The Times ****) set the Old Testament story in Handels time, with a witty twinge of the contemporary.

In anticipation of Beethoven's 250th birthday in 2020, Jan LIsiecki presents a full cycle of Beethoven's five piano concertos, accompanied by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 has particularly played a significant role in Lisiecki's career. In 2013, he performed the work with Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado in Bologna, an indisposed Martha Argerich at short notice, and he performed the same work at his Carnegie Hall debut.