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Shakespeare’s Sisters review: brilliantly unexpected songs and prose give voice to the voiceless

Combining words devised for Shakespeare’s female characters with music from composers old and new this was a Bardic treat with teeth

Darkness Visible: Âme x Lawrence Power review – violist and guests reimagine the concert for the digital age

This ambitious and imaginative concert experience blended live and filmed performance. Not all its experiments felt successful, but at its best this was mesmerising

Helen Charlston: A Poet’s Love album review – original and absorbing

Schumann’s Dichterliebe is at the heart of this disc from the mezzo-soprano and pianist Sholto Kynoch; Heloise Werner’s new work Knight’s Dream is a rich and intriguing companion piece

Arcadi Volodos: Schubert piano sonata D850, Schumann Kinderszenen op15 – playfulness, longing and elegance

The pianist binds Schubert’s D850 with Schumann’s Kinderszenen with playing of warmth and crystalline technique

Aldous Harding: Train on the Island review – even whimsy-resistant listeners will love these lucid, luminous songs

Lyrics about naked owls and eating rocks might be irksome to some – but there’s no denying that the alt-rocker’s fifth album is beguiling, tightly written and richly melodic

Peter Grimes review – beauty and terror in Warner’s topical staging

As the tormented fisherman, Allan Clayton currently has few rivals. He is matched by a superb cast in this gripping revival of Britten’s opera

Galilee String Quartet review – Palestinian ensemble improvise their signature east-west blend

The four siblings start with Webern before ditching traditional instruments for mics, voices, percussion and oud

Tales of Love and Loss review – hauntings, tragicomedy and tweezer-sharp wit in Royal Opera triple bill

The Jette Parker Artists ran the full spectrum from sombre lyricism to frenzied satire via divorce drama in works by Elizabeth Maconchy, Charlotte Bray and Elena Langer

Gabriela Montero review – radiant renderings of postcard Spain with an excursion into the Beatles

The Venezuelan pianist was mercurial and dazzling in this Spanish-themed recital including Chopin, Scarlatti and Albéniz adding improvisational mastery with a Purcellian take on Here Comes the Sun

Papillons review – rich and strange collaboration exemplifies the spirit of Multitudes festival

Works by Kaija Saariaho, Imogen Holst and Chaines were woven into Manchester Collective’s concert that blended music with dance, theatre and multimedia, with cellist Laura van der Heijden at its heart

Morales: L’Homme Armé masses and Magnificat Secundi Toni album review – choral sounds of 16th-century Rome

Aiming to perform Renaissance music as it was originally heard, De Profundis find richness and precision in the Spanish composer’s finely wrought settings

Beethoven: The Sonatas for Piano and Cello album review – Watkins and Bax have a shared impulse to deliver eloquence

Cellist Watkins’ career-long immersion in the composer pays dividends in his pairing with Alessio Bax’s unfussy virtuosity

O/Modernt review – from Auerbach to Mahler, the fires of love bruise, batter and delight

The Stockholm-based chamber ensemble, led by violinist Hugo Ticciati, brought a programme that linked Auerbach and Janáček to Golijov – with clarinettist Christoffer Sundqvist the hypnotic soloist - and Mahler

Schwarzman Centre opening concerts – a magnificent new monument to secular culture

The Sohmen Concert Hall’s acoustics made Scottish Ensemble’s Shostakovich and Tchaivoksky pinprick clear, while the Great Hall showcased Devlin and Muhly’s ‘choral installation’

Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us review – Berg’s harrowing opera is more adrenaline-inducing than ever

The London Philharmonic under Edward Gardner combined with video art by Ilya Shagalov that was riveting and, in places, not for the squeamish

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← Older posts
  • Shakespeare’s Sisters review: brilliantly unexpected songs and prose give voice to the voiceless
  • Angine de Poitrine review – alien rock duo’s UK debut is hypnotic, harebrained and 100% worth the hype
  • Super Furry Animals review – stirring reunion showcases immaculate songcraft
  • Darkness Visible: Âme x Lawrence Power review – violist and guests reimagine the concert for the digital age
  • Charli xcx: Rock Music review – is she really pivoting from pop? Don’t be so sure …
  • Paul Simon review – at 84, back on stage after hearing loss, his resolute artistry is inspiring
  • Olof Dreijer: Loud Bloom review – the Knife star’s debut solo album is a garden of earthly delights
  • Ana Roxanne: Poem 1 review – ​a stunning pop balladeer emerges from the haze
  • Helen Charlston: A Poet’s Love album review – original and absorbing
  • Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour review – style trumps substance in James Cameron’s 3D oddity
  • Arcadi Volodos: Schubert piano sonata D850, Schumann Kinderszenen op15 – playfulness, longing and elegance
  • Aldous Harding: Train on the Island review – even whimsy-resistant listeners will love these lucid, luminous songs
  • Peter Grimes review – beauty and terror in Warner’s topical staging
  • Rosalía review – ribcage-rattling riot is one of the boldest, most highbrow arena shows in pop history
  • Galilee String Quartet review – Palestinian ensemble improvise their signature east-west blend
  • Tales of Love and Loss review – hauntings, tragicomedy and tweezer-sharp wit in Royal Opera triple bill
  • Gabriela Montero review – radiant renderings of postcard Spain with an excursion into the Beatles
  • Papillons review – rich and strange collaboration exemplifies the spirit of Multitudes festival
  • Morales: L’Homme Armé masses and Magnificat Secundi Toni album review – choral sounds of 16th-century Rome
  • Kneecap: Fenian review – their new album is terrific, triumphant yet tortured
  • Serokolo 7: Maramfa Musick Pro review – South Africa’s latest club export is a relentless adrenaline shot
  • Kacey Musgraves: Middle of Nowhere review – weary, rootsy and wry, it’s her richest album since Golden Hour
  • Beethoven: The Sonatas for Piano and Cello album review – Watkins and Bax have a shared impulse to deliver eloquence
  • O/Modernt review – from Auerbach to Mahler, the fires of love bruise, batter and delight
  • Ne-Yo and Akon review – joyous joint tour is like time-travelling to a messy night out in 2010
  • Schwarzman Centre opening concerts – a magnificent new monument to secular culture
  • Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us review – Berg’s harrowing opera is more adrenaline-inducing than ever
  • Turangalîla: Infinite Love review – RPO and 1927 Studios bring Messiaen to joyous and vibrant life
  • Anohni review – masterful songbook reinventions are an out-of-body experience
  • Carla dal Forno: Confession review – spartan, sunlit post-punk strikingly contrasts the desperation of desire

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