Author: Sammy

On 10th November 2018, trebles from FCMG joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth for a performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s opera The Silver Tassie.

The concert was broadcast live from the Barbican on BBC Radio 3 and you can listen back to it on BBC Sounds until Monday 10th December 2018.

Reviews

“Ryan Wigglesworth marshalled the BBCSO (as well as the men of the BBC Singers and the impressive boys of the Finchley Children’s Music Group) in a wonderfully nervy, energised performance, catching the cross-currents of a score that’s never still.”

The Arts Desk ★★★★★

“This concert staging of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s opera based on Sean O’Casey’s play was forcefully conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth and sung by a consistently strong cast.”

The Guardian ★★★★★

“Mark-Anthony Turnage’s masterly opera The Silver Tassie, last heard in 2002, made a welcome return as the centrepiece of London’s Barbican Armistice remembrance series, its power to move undimmed and the great arc of its hugely ambitious score vivid in all its clamorous beauty.”

Bachtrack ★★★★★

“Act II came across particularly well, as the men of the BBC Singers and the Finchley Children’s Music Group formed the double choir of soldiers, with Turnage having included a children’s chorus to emphasise just how young the generation that served at the front really was.”

musicOMH ★★★★★

“…and there was staunch support from Sally Matthews, Brindley Sherratt and Alexander Robin Baker among others – not to mention the excellent BBC Singers and Finchley Children’s Music Group.”

The Telegraph ★★★★

“A strong cast ensured that Saturday’s concert performance made its mark.”

Financial Times ★★★★

“The vigorous male voices of the BBC Singers and the animated Finchley Children’s Music Group were poignantly juxtaposed with the passing parade of boy stretcher-bearers.”

Opera Today

Production photos from our recent productions of Iolanthe in 2018 and Kiss Me Kate in 2017 are now available to view at our Summer School page.

Choir members can view a wider selection of photos through the Members Area of the website.

On 2nd August 2018 FCMG performed the first act of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Alexander Vedernikov. Here are some of the reviews:

“The final icing on the cake, even if it is a bit sugary (the lady in our row decided to sing along), comes from the youthful voices cutting through the snow-scene, courageously taken by the Finchley Children’s Music Group.”

The Arts Desk ★★★★

“But extra plaudits must go to the bright and warm sound of the Finchley Children’s Music Group, who combined with the lovely twinkling sound of the orchestra to close the piece with a magical Waltz of the Snowflakes.”

Bachtrack ★★★

“…as part of a refreshing reading. The ethereal voices of the Finchley Children’s Music Group offered that in their wordless chains of thirds in the final section as the ballet moves from inside the Silberhaus family home to the snow-strewn landscape of a pine forest.”

Classical Source

You can listen back to the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of this Prom until 1st September 2018. Click here for more details.

You can listen back to our performance of the ‘Snowflake Chorus’ from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker on BBC iPlayer until 1st September. Click here for more details

FCMG’s performance of Benjamin Britten’s children’s opera Noye’s Fludde will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Tuesday 3rd July at 7:30pm. The performance was part of the BBC Singers’ concert ‘A Britten Celebration’ at Southwark Cathedral and featured FCMG President Martyn Brabbins conducting, Jamie W Hall as Mr Noah, Jessica Gillingwater as Ms Noah and Michael Crawford as The Voice of God.

For more information go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b8gf26. The performance will be available to listen to up to 30 days after broadcast.