What’s on

MUSIC

SIR MARK ELDER CONDUCTS THE ACADEMY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 24th February, 1pm Royal Academy of Music Marylebone Road London NW1 5HT ram.ac.uk

The Academy’s Barbirolli chair of conducting Sir Mark Elder conducts orchestral music from two great 19th-century operas: Verdi’s Aida, set in ancient Egypt, and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, based on Gottfried von Strassburg’s early 13thcentury romance and inspired by the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. Strauss’s mighty tone poem, Death and Transfiguration, which depicts an artist’s refections on his life as he dies, completes the programme. THEATRE

MACBETH: A GOLDEN COUPLE, DESTINED FOR GLORY 15th – 25th February The Cockpit Gateforth Street London NW8 8EH thecockpit.org.uk

The Macbeths are a golden couple, destined for glory. Admired and feted by all, including the King of Scotland, Macbeth leads Duncan’s forces to a huge military success and crushes rebels and foreign armies alike. The witches, however, can smell his ambition and mendacity. In this provocative treatment of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, they intervene to test Macbeth’s character and loyalty. A disturbing portrait of a man, a woman and a nation in crisis.

Sir Mark Elder Macbeth EXHIBITION

MHAIRI MCGREGOR: ACROSS THE POND 2nd – 18th March Thompsons Gallery 3 Seymour Place London W1H 5AZ thompsonsgallery.co.uk

Mhairi McGregor has gained acclaim for her highly abstracted, contemporary colourist landscape paintings. The artist travels the world capturing breathtaking views with her paintbrush. As a young artist, McGregor’s inspiration originated from textiles, practiced and taught by her mother at Glasgow University, and the work of French-Russian painter Nicolas de Stael. Bright and vibrant, her landscapes are layered with complexity and depth. Every patch of oil is deliberately placed and deeply considered; the resulting product is effervescent, accomplished and outright beautiful. MUSIC

SHEKU KANNEH-MASON 15th March Wigmore Hall 36 Wigmore Street London W1U 2BP wigmore-hall.org.uk

Despite his youth, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason has developed into one of UK’s most admired musicians – in 2020, he awarded an MBE for services to music at the age of just 21. In this performance, he plays works by Spanish cellist Gaspar Cassadó (1897-1966), and the Cuban Leo Brouwer (born 1939), plus recent works by Welsh jazz and classical pianist Gwilym Simcock and the English Edward Finnis, whose Preludes were premièred by Kanneh-Mason in 2021.