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
Turangalîla: Infinite Love review – RPO and 1927 Studios bring Messiaen to joyous and vibrant life
Part of the Southbank’s Multitudes festival, this pairing of silent movie and Messiaen was a feast for the eyes and ears
Sibelius: Violin Concerto, Lemminkäinen Suite album review – Ava Bahari is an enthralling storyteller
In this all-Sibelilus disc, violinist Ava Bahari’s account of the Violin Concerto has heft and exuberance, while Rouvali’s dramatic nous suits the drama of the Four Legends of Lemminkäinen
Forged in Sound: Heavy Metal Orchestrated review – hard-rocking mashup rides the lightning
Suzi Quatro, Mr Lordi and Alison Mosshart joined the Philharmonia in a setlist spanning Wagner and Metallica – with conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali flexing his rock-drummer skills
Multitudes festival: Echoes of Hill and Horizon review – epic light show electrifies Elgar and Vaughan Williams
With dizzying surround sound and thousands of LED baubles, this was a synaesthetic feast from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Timothy Ridout: Alto Appassionato album review – engaging and smartly curated viola and piano programme
Accomplished violist Ridout and pianist Jonathan Ware add bristling imagination and rich emotional layers to music by Franck, Fauré and more
LSO/ Pappano: The Dream of Gerontius review – full-throttle rendering of Elgar’s operatic finest
Antonio Pappano’s dramatically charged interpretation of this religious oratorio landed powerfully with a hair raising performance from David Butt Philip as the titular soul
LSO/Frang/Pappano review – tragic and thrilling Shostakovich and silky and spiky Korngold
Vilde Frang revealed the expressionistic bones of Korngold’s Violin Concerto in her performance of this 1945 work, part of a concert that included Imogen Holst’s Persephone and a drama-filled reading of Shostakovich’s 5th
Sean Shibe: Vesper album review – ever-imaginative guitar virtuoso brings mind-expanding flights of fancy
This thoughtfully curated programme of work by three British composers explores the guitar’s expressive potential, and new arrangements of Harrison Birtwistle’s piano originals are a revelation
The Flying Dutchman review – delusion, torment and menace in detailed and finely sung Wagner
Jack Furness’s unconventional staging for Welsh National Opera sees the orchestra play up a storm under Tomáš Hanus in Wagner’s legend of the man condemned to sail the oceans for eternity
Samuel Hasselhorn: Schubert Hoffnung review – timbral and emotional flexibility is in ample supply
The German baritone’s all-Schubert disc with pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz is full of communicative diction and poetic phrasing
Brodsky Quartet / William Barton review – two hemispheres meet in winning didgeridoo collaboration
An unlikely alliance cut a swathe through folk songs, Janáček and music from Australia and New Zealand in an eclectic and beautiful evening