Where else can you hear all these stars in 2 weeks?
NewsWigmore Hall,. London, May 2026:
Across 14 days, audiences will experience an exceptional range of performances. The distinguished vocal line-up includes Lise Davidsen in an all-Schubert programme; Ian Bostridge in Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Liederkreis; Asmik Grigorian in French and Russian vocalises and Strauss’s Four Last Songs; and Christian Gerhaher with Gerold Huber in a programme of Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Mahler and Wolf. Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton perform a programme of songs premièred in the year Wigmore Hall opened, 1901, while Elaine Mitchener and Elizabeth Kenny collaborate for the first time in a wide-ranging programme spanning
Dowland to Joni Mitchell.
Superstar pianist Yunchan Lim performs Fantasies by Chopin, Schumann and Schubert; Igor Levit gives a solo recital featuring Liszt’s visionary Dante Sonata; and Lukas Sternath, a student of Levit’s, makes his evening recital debut with Liszt and Schubert. Other piano recitals come from Alexandre Kantorow and Angela Hewitt.
London Voices bring the shimmering, incantatory textures of Stockhausen’s Stimmung to a late-night performance, while Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI perform Monteverdi and Dowland, and Les Arts Florissants and William Christie perform Handel’s Acis and Galatea.
Cellist Abel Selaocoe’s Bantu Ensemble blends classical and African traditions, while singer, composer, ace fiddler and banjo virtuoso Rhiannon Giddens joins forces with Francesco Turrisi and Ireland’s Crash Ensemble for a genre-crossing finale to her 2025/26 Season Residency.
Mendelssohn’s youthful Octet is performed by the Modigliani and Leonkoro Quartets; Mozart’s G minor String Quintet is performed with Tabea Zimmermann and the Belcea Quartet; and Brahms and Schumann piano quintets with Igor Levit and the Leonkoro Quartet.
The Festival closes with a rare complete performance of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, performed by Christian Tetzlaff to mark his 60th birthday.
My favorite concert hall on the face of Planet Earth.
I have two gripes:
– Legroom
– It usually reminds me that our days on planet earth are numbered
– Someone recently painted double yellow lines outside the back door
That’s three gripes.
– Pret nearby closes at 7 and Joe & The Juice is too pricey (last time I was in there we gave way to a flustered Rachel Dodger 20 minutes before kick-off, they obviously pay her too much.)
Four
correct when a person is tall.
most uncomfortable
in the hall
Mine too. Vive le/la Wiggie!
What a stunning line-up!
I heard Lukas Sternath play a Prokofiev sonata at WH last year. More to the point, he and Levit played Shostakovich’s transcription of the 10th Symphony for 4 hands, but on 2 pianos, and Levit gave him star billing (the right hand). A very memorable evening.
Went to hear Angela Hewitt last night. She brought the house down (as much as is possible given the age group) with a varied and very energetic performance.
These star billings sell out fast. The joy of the place is of course that there is always good music-making going on.
Not bad, I suppose.
wish I were in London! Although I have heard most of them
over the years etc etc I would have been at Wignore Hall EVERY EVENING!!!
When studying singing in London Wigmore Hall was always one of my preferred music halls: so many wonderful programs ans artists!
Cherish these memories.
Best chamber music venue on the planet. Londoners are a lucky lot.
It is not easy to make a New Yorker envious, but I am. We hear most of these artists but in vast Carnegie Hall or noisy Zankel.
What do the kids call it? Fear of Missing Out!!! I must get to London in May!!! Thank you for highlighting this!
that is amazing; I want to go [ New Yorker here; but embarrassed to say we can’t come up with a week like this