Catch Tan Dun at the Royal Festival Hall

IT’S a bizarre thought and I can’t pretend it’s ever occupied my mind for any length of time, but what if Bach had been a Buddhist? What if his great Passion settings hadn’t focused on the life and death of Jesus but the life and wisdom of the Buddha?

Well, the thought apparently occurred to the Chinese-American composer Tan Dun – famous for his score to Ang Lee’s millennial film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – and with such force that he’s written something called Buddha Passion which gets its UK premiere this Sunday, 22 Jan, at the Royal Festival Hall.

Being a new piece, it won’t sound like Bach: in fact, as with much of Tan Dun’s music, it promises to be a venture of east-meets-west sonic spectacle – performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with massed voices that include the London Chinese Philharmonic Choir. But you can expect some semblance of Bach’s narrative intensity – along with poetry, poignancy, the strangeness of non-conventional instruments and a compellingly different way of thinking about sound, which are all enduring features of Tan’s work. Some years ago I attended a project he was running at the Central Conservatoire in Beijing, and it made a big impression. This new score could do the same. Details: southbankcentre.co.uk

• On a similar subject, the 2023 focus at Kings Place is a year-long series called Sound Unwrapped that opens Jan 20 with an experiment in quadraphonia. The players in Colin Currie’s percussion quartet will be dispersed to the four corners of the hall for an immersive account of Steve Reich’s iconic Drumming, along with more recent works by American composers that take their cue from Reich. And by way of peaceful contrast, it’s followed by a viola da gamba recital in which virtuoso player Liam Byrne brings his softly atmospheric 17th-century instrument into the 21st, with brand new pieces and obligato electronics. kingsplace.co.uk

• One of the great Wagner voices of modern times has been the magisterial bass of Sir John Tomlinson – retired now from the Wotans, Hagens and other juggernaut roles he used to sing around the world, but still impressively active in less mainstream contexts. And he turns up at Wigmore Hall on Jan 26 in a monodrama specially written for him by composer John Casken. Called The Shackled King, it presents Shakespeare’s King Lear in terms of speech, song, and the in-between art of sprechstimme – all of which should build into the kind of foundation-shaking performance for which Tomlinson is famous. It shares a bill with other things including (naturally) some Wagner. With the mixed ensemble Counterpoise. wigmore-hall.org.uk

• If strong, deep voices are your thing, Jess Dandy is the real deal: a contralto with bottom notes to die for. And she’s in recital on Jan 26 at what is effectively a new London concert space – once known as Steiner Hall but now remodelled and reopened as the Marylebone Theatre in Park Road, near Baker Street Underground. It’s a mixed-use venue but with a substantial music programme that runs on into the spring with interesting artists. Details: marylebonetheatre.com