The Lark Ascending by Britten, Vaughan Williams, Pritchard, D., Strauss, Minn (2022/2022), Surmast Direttur Clemens Schuldt, Barbican Centre, London, United Kingdom

About This Event In the shadow of the First World War, Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending sounded like a vision of peace. Deborah Pritchard’s Calandra evokes the same spirit in a 21st century context; it’s specially written for the radiant tone and poetic insight of soloist Jennifer Pike. Calandra, says Pritchard represents a different kind of lark – “an Eastern European lark, symbolic of freedom, ascending without borders”. Like Vaughan Williams, Pritchard is responding to her time; but music can deal with turbulence as well as serenity and guest conductor Clemens Schuldt frames these two idylls with Britten’s volcanic Sinfonia da Requiem – a protest against the inhumanity of World War Two – and Strauss’s musical fantasy of triumph rising from the darkest tragedy. Strong emotions; ravishing sounds.