Afternoon Performance: Bartók’s Bluebeard's Castle
14:00
Thu 16 Apr 2026
City Halls
Don’t miss our new Early Bird Rate!
£16 if bought in advance. £19.00 if bought less than two weeks before concert (£6 for Students & Under 26s)
Programme
- Four Sea Interludes from ‘Peter Grimes’(16 mins)
- Hamlet Suite(23 mins)
- interval
- Duke Bluebeard’s Castle(55 mins)
Performers
- Alice Cootemezzo-soprano
- Gábor Bretzbaritone
- Elim ChanConductor
About this Concert
“In wars outside the blood runs red / Here is something far more deadly, ladies and gentlemen”. Duke Bluebeard’s castle has seven doors, and his new wife Judith is determined to open them all. But some questions are best left unanswered, and in Bartók’s gripping psychological thriller even the darkest secrets possess a terrible beauty.
Today, soprano Alice Coote and baritone Gábor Bretz are the heroine and hero of this sinister fairytale – two world-class singers with an unrivalled sense of theatre, supported by guest conductor Elim Chan and all the glittering colours of the full BBC SSO. Add Britten’s storm-swept portrait of the North Sea, and Shostakovich’s delightfully irreverent encounter with Shakespeare, and this is a pulse-raising concert packed with drama.
