AS CONDUCTOR

Alan Tongue had a good innings as conductor, from his start at school in 1956 with The Carnival of the Animals to his final Hungarian performance in 2019 of Schubert's B flat Mass, a period of 63 years.

Six of the best:
Gerontius in Budapest
Alan has seized upon any chance to take the best of British music around the world, and Hungary and Romania soon became his home from home. Budapest Opera repetiteur and composer Jenö Pertis take up the story
READ MORE

Elgar Prize in Budapest
The Elgar Society Medal was awarded in October 2009 to the orchestra Duna Szimfonikus Zenekar for their work in presenting Elgar's music under my direction over the previous fifteen years. At the concert during which the medal was presented I conducted the Enigma Variations, which the then Chairman of the Society described as 'the best Enigma Variations I have ever heard, in concert or on disc.' 
READ MORE

New music in Bucharest
In May 2002 I conducted the seminal concert of the 12th Week of International Music in Bucharest, a programme with the National Radio Orchestra consisting of four Romanian premières, works by Popovici, Teodorescu-Ciocănea, Mellnas and Rotaru.  
READ MORE

Shakespeare in Craiova
With the collaboration of the National Theatre of Craiova I conducted in May 2008 a Shakespeare concert with the Craiova Philharmonic. Oana Stancu as Puck is in the photograph, rehearsing with me and the orchestra Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The second half of the programme consisted of a suite from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.
READ MORE

Belshazzar’s Feast in Buenos Aires
Being called at short notice to take over this Argentinean première I was impressed how members of the audience wanted to talk to me after the concert about English music and culture. It set me on a path taking English music around the world.  
READ MORE

Elijah as an Opera
For the Year of Opera and Musical Theatre in 1997 I put on a semi-staged performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah in Cambridge. For this I booked the world's greatest Elijah, Alan Opie, and auditioned for the other twelve parts. Dancers provided the action and combined choirs made up a large chorus. The work was repeated in Croydon, with Mark Holland replacing the indisposed Alan Opie.
READ MORE