King attends special concert in Catholic Church featuring music from his coronation

On Tuesday this week, King Charles returned to London from a private solo trip to Romania’s Transylvanian region to attend the first night of a series of special concerts, which featured music played at his Coronation. The concert, organised by Wigmore Hall, at St James’s Roman Catholic Church in Marylebone, included all four coronation anthems by George Frideric Handel, including the much-praised Zadok the Priest.

The pieces were performed by leading French baroque ensemble Le Concert Spirituel, and conducted by Herve Niquet.

The event, which was also attended by HE Cardinal Vincent Nichols, was the first in a series of Wigmore Hall concerts taking place at the venue, allowing artists associated with the organisation to stage larger-scale performances. The next concert in the series features Wigmore Hall Baroque Ensemble in Residence Solomon’s Knot performing Bach’s St Matthew Passion on Monday 19th June.

John Gilhooly, director of Wigmore Hall and RPS chairman told the Independent newspaper: “It has been a huge honour to welcome His Majesty The King to this very special concert.

“The occasion is a wonderful reflection of 21st century cosmopolitan Britain, where the Head of State is celebrated by French musicians performing German music at a Catholic church with historic links to Spain, in a concert organised by an Irishman.”

During the concert Charles presented Judith Weir, Master of the King’s Music, with honorary membership of the Royal Philharmonic Society, in recognition of her services to music.