CBSO/Yamada review – Moore’s trombone adventures into Fujikura’s sonic oceans

Dai Fujikura’s elusive trombone concerto was given its UK premiere by Peter Moore, who made its colours and textures sing; a persuasive but perhaps too sunny reading of Mahler’s first symphony followed in the concert’s second half

CBSO/Vänskä review – weird brilliance and neurotic tics in a compelling programme

Soprano Helena Juntunen brought Sibelius’ vocal works to dramatic life in a remarkable concert that paired the Finnish composer with late Shostakovich

New Year review – Blake’s 7, redemption and rap as Birmingham Opera Company turn to Tippett

This staging of Michael Tippett’s complex opera, whose story of impoverished 80s Britain takes in sci-fi, street slang and electric guitar, is a remarkable feat.

CBSO/Morlot review – A beautiful lament for corrupted nature

John Luther Adams’ powerful new work grieves for the loss of animals and plants – including with a recreation of extinct birdsong – while asserting that Earth will live on

CBSO/Yamada review – Anna Clyne’s Atlas is a brilliantly coloured musical scrapbook

This piano concerto co-commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is one of quicksilver changes of mood conveyed brilliantly by Jeremy Denk

Classical music: Fiona Maddocks’s 10 best concerts and operas of 2023

Two tragic new operas, Mussorgsky with bells on and rousing community endeavours inspired and moved, while ENO hit highs despite a year of turmoil

The week in classical: LSO/ Rattle; Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Nelsons – review

The LSO gave Simon Rattle an unforgettable send-off in Mahler’s Ninth, while the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons turned on the style with Stravinsky, Ravel and Gershwin

CBSO/Gražinytė-Tyla/Frang review – remarkable performance brings out Elgar’s extraordinary beauty

On her final tour as conductor of the CBSO Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, here joined by violin virtuoso Vilde Frang captures every moment of febrility and nobility with a startling immediacy

The week in classical: The Decision; The Dream of Gerontius; Soloists of the CBSO – review

Birmingham Opera Company regroup, and the CBSO triumph in Elgar’s great oratorio as the city’s rich musical life thrives. And shock and anger as the BBC Singers are axed

CBSO: Sounds New review – showcasing the talents of 20 young musicians

Composers in their 20s and early 30s presented original miniatures in a diverse range of styles from English pastoral to jazz and folk to irresistible gospel and soul

CBSO/Madaras review – tumultuous, multi-faceted symphonies by Larcher and Mahler

Symphony Hall, BirminghamThe City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra delivered a fierce Thomas Larcher’s piece and some idyllic Mahler as part of its belated centenary bonanza

In This Brief Moment review – Darwin, Genesis and whirlygigs in Brett Dean’s mindblowing cantata

Dean’s five-part evolution cantata was brought to vivid life by Nicholas Collon and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Prom 14: CBSO/Yamada review – Smyth beguiles and Rachmaninov ravishes

Ethel Smyth’s Concerto for Violin and Horn was deftly handled by the CBSO’s chief conductor designate Kazuki Yamada and soloists Elena Urioste and Ben Goldscheider

CBSO/Morlot review – remarkable Thorvaldsdottir and phenomenal Kopatchinskaja

Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Catamorphosis, premiered here by Ludovic Morlot and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, is an extraordinary achievement

CBSO/Gražinytė-Tyla review – assured Bruckner and arresting Tchaikovsky mark the end of a Birmingham era

Symphony Hall, BirminghamIn her last UK concert as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s music director, Gražinytė-Tyla showed just what a fine and nuanced Bruckner interpreter she really is