The Story of Swing review – once it gets going, the Proms get hopping
The pop music of the 30s and 40s is revived in lively style – once the bands are warmed up – with contributions from vocalists Elaine Delmar and Clare Teal
ORR/Gardiner review – dramatic energy but a Hollywood Bowl ending
John Eliot Gardiner’s conducting on Beethoven’s Fifth was too generalised, and pre-recorded bells made the finale to Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique sound over the top
Tête à Tête festival; BBC Proms review – from the supine to the sublime
Prone cellists and dodgy acoustics are part of the fun at Tête à Tête. Plus life-changing Bach at the Proms
BBCNOW/Otaka review – vivid Walton and authentic Elgar
BBC National Orchestra of Wales laureate Tadaaki Otaka leads a bombastic and feisty performance of lesser-known scores
BBCSSO/Runnicles review – MacMillan premiere and the raw power of Mahler
James MacMillan’s dense and complex Fourth Symphony was conducted with affection and dignity; Mahler’s Fifth felt like being locked into someone else’s nervous breakdown
BBCSSO/Runnicles review – sheer and impressive drama
Donald Runnicles and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra brought precision and drama to Verdi’s Requiem
BBC Philharmonic/Mena review – a palpable sense of commitment
A Luke Bedford premiere had strong ideas but lacked coherence, while Bruckner’s Third Mass was measured and spacious
Aurora Orchestra/Collon review – memorable for all the right reasons
Playing an Anna Meredith premiere and Beethoven’s 40-minute Pastoral from memory brought a sense of spontaneity – the gamble certainly paid off
Prom 13: BBCSO/Mälkki/Josefowicz review – committed and astoundingly vivid
Luca Francesconi’s very effective violin concerto was played with tremendous commitment by Leila Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Susanna Mälkki
Prom 10: Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Andsnes review – Beethoven with drama and drive
Bringing his four-year ‘Beethoven journey’ to London for a Proms mini-cycle, Leif Ove Andsnes delivered a detailed vision of the Third Concerto and Choral Fantasy
BBC Proms; Igor Levit review – fanfares and fireworks
There were firsts and feasts – and Haydn – at week one of the Proms. Plus, an astonishing recital by Igor Levit
Prom 9: Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Andsnes review – big, passionate Beethoven
Leif Ove Andsnes starts the final leg of his four-year ‘Beethoven journey’ with a startlingly fresh interpretation of the First and Fourth Piano Concertos, backed with instinctive intensity by the orchestra
Prom 5: BBC Phil/Currie/Storgårds review – compelling percussion playing
Colin Currie dashed across the stage between perhaps too many instruments in HK Gruber’s into the open … but it was an energising programme nonetheless
Proms First Night review: off to a flying start
The BBC Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor, Sakari Oramo, find a winning formula featuring Scandinavian giants Sibelius and Nielsen
Helen Grime: Night Songs — a finely textured, poetic debut
Grime’s highly assured debut draws on the poetry of Baudelaire, Eliot and others, writes Fiona Maddocks