Benjamin Britten [Hans Wild]

THE name Arthur Oldham doesn’t turn too many heads these days, but in the middle years of the 20th century it carried clout. The one and only official pupil of Benjamin Britten, he made a promising start as a composer – but then had a breakdown, reassembled his life as a Catholic convert, and became one of Europe’s leading choral conductors, founding the mighty Edinburgh Festival Chorus along the way.

These days his music doesn’t get much hearing. But London Choral Sinfonia, an ambitiously first-rate professional ensemble, have dug out a big piece called Laudes Creaturarum, and perform it at St John’s Waterloo, Feb 5, alongside Britten’s dazzling orchestra song cycle Les Illuminations. A must-hear for collectors of the fascinatingly forgotten. Details: thelcs.org

• Staying with Britten, the BBC Singers perform his Rejoice in the Lamb at Kings Place, Jan 31, alongside Fauré’s Requiem: kingsplace.co.uk And the Royal Opera revive their Deborah Warner staging of his spine-tingling cantata Phaedra (never actually meant for staging but it kind of works) in the Linbury Theatre, Covent Garden, Feb 6-11. www.rbo.org.uk

As for that name Oldham, I tend to associate it not so much with Arthur but with William Walton, who was born in Oldham and liked to say that he became a composer to get away from it (apologies to any readers with attachments to the town).

There’s a lot of Walton scores playing in London through the coming weeks, but in prime place among them is the 1st Symphony – a masterwork of thrilling, edge-of-the-seat tension – at the Barbican, Feb 6, given by the LSO under Antonio Pappano and a hot ticket; not least because the programme also features Janine Jansen in the nearest thing to a violin concerto written by Leonard Bernstein, his Serenade. barbican.org.uk

• Sadly, the hottest ticket of the week – the towering combination of Martha Argerich and Mischa Maisky at Wigmore Hall, Feb 6 – has been sold out for ages; but you might be lucky and get a return. wigmore-hall.org.uk

And for anyone in dire need of living legends, there’s the compensation of Mitsuko Uchida at the Festival Hall,Feb 1, directing Mozart Piano Concertos from the keyboard. southbankcentre.co.uk

• Not quite so legendary as Uchida (but on the way), Pavel Kolesnikov plays Mozart and Ravel at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Jan 31. southbankcentre.co.uk And another exiled Russian pianist, Daniil Trifonov, plays the Schumann Concerto at the Barbican, Feb 2, with the LSO under Daniel Harding (so long as air traffic controls allow, since Harding leads a strange double life these days as conductor-cum-commercial pilot). barbican.org.uk

• Meanwhile, the chamber music series at JW3 in Finchley Road continues with Schubert, Schumann, Dvořák played by a bespoke ensemble based around the reunion of cellist David Waterman and violist Garfield Jackson – who for more than 40 years were members of the celebrated Endellion Quartet. Feb 2. jw3.org.uk

• And for something out of the ordinary, consider the choral group Exaudi at Kings Place, Feb 1, where they premiere Hello Halo: a piece composer Ruby Coley developed with her severely neurodiverse brother Paul who communicates through non-verbal means. Translating Paul’s gestures into music, the score becomes a vocal map of his life and relationships. Potentially fascinating. kingsplace.co.uk