A SPECIAL performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor is to open this year's Lake District Summer Music Festival next week.

The choral masterpiece is to be sung from memory and without a conductor by the 30-strong baroque group Solomon's Knot on Saturday, July 29, at 7.30pm.

As festival general manager Kim Sargeant explained, this is "not a gimmick" on the part of the singers and musicians, but is designed to bring a sense of freedom and flexibility to how the piece is performed.

"This is why we can say it's quite genuinely a unique performance," said Kim of the forthcoming concert at Ulverston's Victoria Hall.

The Russian Revolution's centenary is a theme of this year's festival, and on Monday, July 31, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker is to be played as a piano duet by Andrew Dunlop and Gemma Beeson, at Ambleside Parish Church, at 11am.

Kim said the music for the piano four-hands arrangement was so scarce, it had only been secured relatively recently from the Tchaikovsky State House-Museum at Klin, near Moscow.

"We had to negotiate with them to get a copy of the music scanned and emailed; it's that rare," he said, adding: "While everybody might think they know The Nutcracker from the orchestral suite, this will be a particularly fun concert."

Since rising-star baritone Benjamin Appl made his Lake District Summer Music debut in 2015, his career has flourished. He returns on Tuesday, August 1, to perform Schubert's Winterreise at St Thomas' Church, Kendal, at 7.30pm.

Kim said Appl's appearance two years ago had been a very happy experience all-round, and he was delighted the singer had been able to fit this year's date into his diary.

Anticipation is also building for a performance by the Palisander Recorder Quartet at Kendal Town Hall on Saturday, August 5, at 12pm, entitled Dr Dee's Daughter and the Philosopher's Stone. The concert is to feature puppeteers Rust and Stardust, and looks set to captivate music lovers young and old.

To book visit Stricklandgate House, 92 Stricklandgate, Kendal; phone 01539-742621; or go online at www.ldsm.org.uk