BBCSO/Adès review – Adès held the orchestra as if under a spell
A Proms programme of the UK premiere of Gabriella Smith’s Breathing Forests, Sibelius, and Adès’s own music (Five Spells from The Tempest) was atmospheric and engaging
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District review – semi-staged Shostakovich is vivid and claustrophobic
With Nicky Spence and Amanda Majeski the striking leads, the nastiness in Shostakovich’s ‘tragic satire’ was disturbing and powerful in an impressive Proms performance
Norwegian Chamber Orch/ Kuusisto/Barruk review – Proms first as Ume Sámi songs take centre stage
Pekka Kuusisto and his world-class NCO brought a programme blending classical, folk and pop with Sámi vocalist Katarina Barruk, in this thoughtful Prom
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/ Martín review – soloist and players gather strength after protesters disrupt Prom
A rattled Khatia Buniatishvili delayed her driven rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1 to the second half of a Prom overshadowed by Palestine protests, yet the orchestra found buoyancy in Dvořák to lift the mood
Lindberg & Aho: Clarinet Concertos album review – Julian Bliss’s performances are immaculate
With Taavi Oramo (also a clarinettist) conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony, Bliss is virtuosic in these two technically demanding but approachable concertos
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 album review – Mahan Esfahani’s reading is lucid and illuminating
The harpsichordist describes Bach’s Preludes and Fugues as a ‘challenge and a homecoming’. His thoughtful new recording has a sense of the work’s drama but is never wilful nor perverse
Leipzig Gewandhaus/ Nelsons review – poignancy, poetry and powerful Sibelius in wide-ranging Prom
The venerable orchestra – among the world’s oldest – brought Pärt, Sibelius and Dvořák to the Proms. Isabelle Faust’s sensitive reading of the latter’s Violin Concerto was sleek and organic; the Sibelius well-paced and weighty
Royal Concertgebouw / Mäkelä review – Proms showcase legendary orchestra and its star signing
The masterly Amsterdam ensemble were at the Proms for two concerts with their Chief Conductor Designate Klaus Mäkelä. In works by Berio, Mahler, Mozart, Prokofiev and Bartók there was dazzling playing and immaculate attention to detail
Danish National Symphony Orchestra review – punchy Prom reaches a triumphant conclusion
There was plenty to admire as a fine lineup of soloists stirred the emotions on a night that paired Beethoven’s Ninth with Anna Clyne’s subtle meditation on time
Terry Riley: The Columbia Recordings album review – early masterworks from a founding father of minimalism
Nothing can surpass the originality of 1968’s In C, repackaged here with three other discs to mark the composer’s 90th birthday
Tchaikovsky: The Seasons album review – exemplary playing but Yunchan Lim’s take is strangely sombre
(Decca)The young Korean gives these 12 miniatures more gravitas than most pianists
Breaking Bach review – breakdancing thrillingly animates 300-year-old music
In an exhilarating performance choreographer Kim Brandstrup collaborates with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to make Bach feel new
A Mass of Life review – magical and ecstatic Proms performance of Delius’s magnum opus
Mark Elder and the BBC Symphony Orchestra make such an outstanding case for Delius’s setting of Nietzsche that its 37-year absence from the Proms is baffling
Le Concert Spirituel review – a sumptuous musical journey to late Renaissance Florence
Striggio’s mass, lost for 400 years, was the centrepiece of this imaginative concert of 16th- and 17th-century music that possibly worked best for radio listeners
BBCNOW/Bancroft/Grosvenor review – from the brilliantly bonkers to heavyweight Shostakovich
Sofia Gubaidulina’s Revue Music for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band was an eccentric and joyful delight and Benjamin Grosvenor dazzled in Ravel’s bluesy Piano Concerto in this BBC National Orchestra of Wales prom