BBCSO/Oramo review – Glanert premiere vividly realised

Works by Nielsen and Sibelius preceded Detlev Glanert’s beguiling Megaris, with its bursts of cartoonish fun and stretches of languor

BBCSO/Koenigs review – Rihm’s piano concerto keeps you guessing

Rihm’s second piano concerto was negotiated in style by Lothar Koenigs and soloist Nicolas Hodges, while an account of Bruckner’s Seventh was magnificently convincing

BBCSO/Nicholls/Volkov review – soaring new work is timeless and timely

Rachel Nicholls delivered a gleaming performance in Nicole LeFanu’s fiery new concertante, in an inspired programme including Schreker and Rachmaninov

Rigoletto; Philip Glass at 80 – review

ENO returns to Jonathan Miller’s classic production. Plus, wall-to-wall Glass

BBC Total Immersion Day: Philip Glass at 80 review – variety, sheer difficulty and lots of arpeggios

Marin Alsop, the BBC Singers and others wished Glass a happy 80th with a career-spanning programme of his best and most challenging work

BBCSO/Gardner review – a thrilling show of ferocity and feistiness

Edward Gardner dug deeper into Janáček, while violinist Tasmin Little explored the languid lyricism of Szymanowski

BBCSO/Saraste review – courtly bonhomie to precision-crafted ecstasy

A luxuriant new concerto by Diana Burrell was accompanied by a brisk account of Haydn’s The Hen and a driven, hyper-focused Firebird

BBCSO/Gaffigan review – Brecht and Weill to devastating effect

Singer Storm Large evoked obscenity and heartbreak brilliantly amid the sleaze and sardonic humour of The Seven Deadly Sins

BBCSO/Weilerstein review – Dean’s Hamlet ‘diffraction’ whets the appetite

The BBC Symphony Orchestra under the assured direction of Joshua Weilerstein performed music from Brett Dean’s forthcoming Hamlet opera, and impressed in Hallman’s Gesualdo setting

BBCSO/Bychkov review – sheer exhilarating musicality

The BBCSO’s strings danced and soared as Bychkov and soloist Kirill Gernstein offered a supremely poised account of works by Tchaikovsky and Taneyev

Antony and Cleopatra review – BBCSO bring Schmitt’s incidental music back to life

A fascinating stage collaboration with Shakespeare’s Globe revived the work of a tarnished French composer, whose dramatic score deserves comparison with Debussy and Ravel

Tamsin Waley-Cohen: Harris/Adams concertos CD review – athleticism and conviction

Roy Harris may be the most all-American composer you have never heard of. He was born in an Oklahoma log cabin and paid his way through Berkeley partly by driving a truck, before following his contemporary Copland to Paris to … Continue reading →

BBCSO/Oramo review – there’s real terror in Brett Dean’s Knocking at the Hellgate

The panicky, tumultuous music of Brett Dean’s hellish vision – complemented by pink feather boa and roulette wheel – is delivered with complete conviction

BBCSSO/Dausgaard review – demure start to a new era

Thomas Dausgaard’s debut as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, with works by Bruckner and Helen Grime, was measured and, in parts, magnificent

Verdi Requiem/Last Night of the Proms review – Flórez steals the show on a night of a thousand flags

The Proms closed with a tremendous Verdi Requiem under Marin Alsop, while the Last Night’s celebrations were trouble-free, if the music was a little bland