A month in Classics: March 2026
Our guest classical music picker, Huw Lewis selects a clutch of concerts from a busy programme to look/listen out for in the North East over the coming weeks
Big sounds from John Wilson’s all-star orchestra
The Sinfonia of London, the orchestra created by Gateshead conductor John Wilson is arguably the best in the capital right now – so we’re lucky they will be regular visitors to the Glasshouse after signing up to be Artistic Partners to the venue.
Their concert on March 13 showcases what they do best – Elgar’s Enigma Variations, and Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto are big sound 20th Century classics that will show off the skills of orchestral players many of whom could be soloists in their own right.
This concert will also provides a fascinating contrast for anyone who caught the pocket-sized Richard Strauss tone poem Till Eulenspiegel performed by the Royal Northern Sinfonia’s chamber reduction in January: It starts with Strauss’ Don Juan in its full glory.
Details and tickets: theglasshouseicm.org
RNS Moves at Wylam Brewery will definitely move you
We first mentioned the RNS Moves take over at Wylam Brewery in Newcastle on Sunday, March 15 in last month’s column.
There are still a few tickets for what promises to be an unmissable night of minimalist classics paired with ear-worm Bach and the very fashionable modern New Yorker Caroline Shaw.
The highlights will be Arvo Part’s much-adored and meditative Spiegel im Spiegel (which Wikipedia tells me has featured in more than 20 films) and Terry Riley’s pounding In C, like the span of some enormous aircraft hanger.
Details and tickets: theglasshouseicm.org
Hear a voice from heaven in Durham
The intimate and evocative Chapter House at Durham Cathedral is the venue for a beautifully-programmed concert by the Durham University Chamber Choir on March 16.
The first half includes Four Motets For a Time of Penitence by Frances Poulenc, each a miniature moment of reflection composed on the eve of the Second World War and this is followed by Pavel Łukaszewski’s 2011 work Lamentations, which stands out for its final section when three sections of the choir are asked to sing out of time with each other, creating the effect of hearing music down the length of a long procession.
After the break it is the long-neglected Herbert Howells Requiem with the sublime section I Heard A Voice from Heaven the moment that will haunt you all the way home.
Details and tickets: durhamcathedral.ticketsolve.com
Beethoven’s best symphony? It’s not the one you think!
Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony is his best symphony – better than the punk rock Fifth and better even than the gargantuan sacred cow that is the Ninth.
The Seventh does not waste a single note in four thrilling movements. It was rescued from the doldrums by the authentic instrument mob in the 1980s. They speeded it up to Beethoven’s original (but long ignored) time markings to reveal the second movement was more stately dance than funeral march, while the finale becomes a breathless gallop to the crowning trumpet calls of the last few bars.
Royal Northern Sinfonia give you three chances to hear this masterpiece: In Middlesbrough on March 26, Gateshead the next day and Carlisle on March 28
The first half of each show has pianist Stephen Hough performing Brahms’ First Piano Concerto. That’s a work that can sometimes land a bit stern and heavy – but I have a feeling Hough and conductor Dinis Souza will match the Beethoven and let it off its leash.
Dates and tickets for all three concerts at the Sinfonia website: theglasshouseicm.org
The Quartet for the End of Time
Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time is written for the unusual combination of clarinet, violin, cello and piano because the French composer was locked in a prisoner of war camp when he composed it in 1940.
That makes live performances less common than they should be for one of Messiaen’s greatest works – so head for Alnwick Playhouse on March 29 if you want to find out what the fuss is about.
Adam Johnson, the Head of Keyboard at Newcastle University, formed the Ensemble Lumiere specially to perform the Quartet, with the help of Royal Northern Sinfonia musicians Jessica Less, Jane Nossek and Gabriel Waite.
The very Gallic concert also features a selection of French songs from Alnwick soprano Colette Boushell, a piano trio by Fauré and a cut down version of Massenet’s meditation from Thais for solo violin.
Details and tickets: alnwickplayhouse.co.uk