BBCNOW/ Bancroft/ Gerhardt review – intriguing connections, magic and melancholy beauty

An imaginatively programmed concert featured Anders Hillborg alongside Sibelius and Shostakovich – with Alban Gerhardt the impeccable soloist in the latter’s second cello concerto

In Search of Youkali album review – Katie Bray is outstanding in this voyage around Weill

The easy fluency of Bray and pianist William Vann guides us through familiar and less well known Kurt Weill songs with the haunting Youkali as the lodestar on our journey

Eric Lu: Schubert Impromptus album review – mature and mesmerising

In this recording of the eight Impromptus, some of Schubert’s most profound music, Lu cements his place as a serious talent

Brendel is celebrated in a glorious musical evening of silliness, sublime playing and warm affection

On what would have been Alfred Brendel’s 95th birthday, some of the world’s greatest musicians performed in a relaxed and joyous celebration of an outstanding musician and benevolent mentor

Shimmer review – National Youth Orchestra welcome the new year in bracing, stylish style

In a programme of early 20th- and 21st-century music, it was in the contemporary works that the new cohort of teenagers were most impressive

Boulanger: La Ville Morte album review – The celebrated teacher’s early opera is brought back to life

This early work by Nadia Boulanger - better known as the influential teacher – was never performed and survived only in vocal score. Despite the best efforts of conductor Neal Goren and his hard-working cast it never quite coheres

Radu Lupu: The Unreleased Recordings album review – treasures from the vaults are a wonderful surprise

This six-disc collection to mark the late pianist’s 80th birthday is full of treats and includes rare ventures into Chopin and Copland, along with Lupu’s legendary rendition of Bartók at Leeds in 1969

Hugh Cutting/ Refound review – countertenor’s darkly compelling recital is an imaginative treat

Cutting’s programme of songs and music were all connected to the theme of night, in an evening that felt more cabaret than concert

MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio review – a magical choral performance

Roderick Williams and Rhian Lois were the perfectly matched vocal soloists as James MacMillan conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a ferociously committed performance of his own Christmas story

Beare’s Chamber Music festival review: string supergroup dazzle with Schubert, Strauss and Schoenberg

The likes of Janine Jansen, Timothy Ridout and Kian Soltani were part of a starry lineup giving this London audience a taste of heaven on earth

Turandot review – Anna Netrebko brings greatness to Royal Opera’s classic staging

Andrei Serban’s 40-year-old production is confidently revived by Jack Furness, while the vocal richness of the Russian soprano as its eponymous heroine takes things to another level

A Ceremony of Carols review – joy and Alleluias for Cardiff Polyphonic Choir

A radiant Christmas celebration brought an emphatic account of Britten’s song cycle, together with past commissions by Welsh composers and newer works that perfectly complemented each other

Pass the Spoon review – David Shrigley serves up a macabre kitchen opera

A TV cookery star becomes the main course, while doomed vegetables and a depressive egg create havoc, in this darkly comic show by the Scottish artist and composer David Fennessy at Opera North

LSO/Pappano review – Musgrave’s Phoenix rises and Vaughan Williams’ London stirs the soul

An all British programme featured music by Thea Musgrave, Vaughan Williams and William Walton, with Antoine Tamestit an expressive and sensitive soloist in the latter’s Viola concerto

Pavel Kolesnikov review – he is a virtuosic sculptor in sound

A beautifully controlled programme of Chopin, Rameau, and the latter’s long-forgotten contemporary Duphly, showcased the pianist’s unerring sense of line