Find articles | Katy Wright

Exquisite Boulez and Francesconi from Mälkki and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, before the conductor pushed the ensemble to its limits in The Planets.

A mixed programme thrills, launching the season with a bang

After quartets by Nielsen and Beethoven, Nordic folk song arrangements brought the first day of the 2015 City of London Festival to a festive close.

Hashimoto is clearly a brilliant technician, but often felt overly cautious in this St John's Smith Square programme.

Stunning Smetana and Dvořák made for a gripping end to a fine concert.

Tavener's The Hidden Treasure is the highlight of the Duke Quartet's recital at Kings Place

Kirill Gerstein's artistic personality often failed to shine through at the pianist's Wigmore Hall recital

The New York Philharmonic lack the 'wow' factor in Salonen, Ravel and Strauss at the Barbican.

For those visiting southern Finland, the most they will see of Vantaa is the airport. And yet, Helsinki’s smaller neighbour has a lot to offer, especially for classical music lovers.

A tantalising selection of Italian Baroque music from Andreas Scholl, Avi Avital and friends at Wigmore Hall.

The first performance of the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Total Immersion Day: Pierre Boulez at 90 featured the composer's Piano Sonata no. 2 and Éclat/Multiples.

Works by Locatelli, Hans Abrahamsen and Tom Coult accompanied Dmitry Sitkovetsky's arrangement of Bach's Goldberg Variations. 

The world première of Julian Anderson's In lieblicher Blaue and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé make for a colourful programme from the LPO.

The Philharmonia's City of Light season goes from strength to strength with an outstanding performance of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges and Dutilleux's Correspondances.

On 26th December, 1926, Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphonic Society gave the première of Tapiola, a tone poem depicting the forest spirit of the Kalevala. No-one knew thatTapiola would turn out to be the composer’s last major work...

Magnus Lindberg's first work for solo voice proves an important new contribution to the genre, while Debussy, Wagner and Scriabin lack magic.

Where lies the boundary between musical performance and performance art? With more and more musicians choosing to incorporate digital or multimedia elements into their performances, concerts are increasingly defying easy categorisation.

L'Acheron Ensemble offer a thoughtful take on some of Holborne's more unusual dances.

An enjoyable programme of works by Corelli, Scarlatti, Porpora, Bononcini and Vivaldi by the Concerto de' Cavalieri and Marcello Di Lisa.

A powerful piano and a tendency towards fortissimo dynamics disappoints at this recital of baroque piano transcriptions.

Robert White's Lamentations bring a programme of English polyphony to a memorable climax.

With the Philharmonia on top form, a superlative cast and clever touches of direction, this was a truly stunning concert performance of Debussy's only opera.

The LPO give thrilling performances of colourful French classics, with the mood slightly dampened by an absurd performance of Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos.

Christoph Prégardien's spacious account of Die Schone Mullerin displayed his characteristically radiant sound and instinctive musicality, but was marred by flaws as the song cycle progressed.

The English String Orchestra present works inspired by nature, colour and life by four contemporary composers.

Italian composer Fausto Romitelli’s beguiling operatic swansong is given a virtuoso performance by the London Sinfonietta.

The Britten Sinfonia's tribute to Mozart fell somewhat flat, with only hauntingly beautiful Kurtág able to somewhat redeem passionless performances of Adams and Tavener.

Lean yet nuanced performances from Oliver Knussen and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in commemoration of Harrison Birtwistle's 80th birthday

Alsop leads the BBC SO in vivid and colourful performances of John Adams, concluding with stunning Mahler.

After Marios Papadopoulos' propulsive account of Brahms' Third Symphony, Nigel Kennedy joined the Oxford Philomusica to give an unpredictable and inconsistent performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto.

Renée Reznek brings a colourful programme of French, British and South-African music (including two London premières) to the characterful 1901 Arts Club.

Linked together by Bach's chorale “Es ist genug”, the Philharmonia performed Lindberg's enigmatic Chorale, Berg's Violin Concerto and Schubert's Symphony no. 9 in C major “Great”. After an underwhelming first half, some invigorating Schubert saved the day.

Celebrating 40 years of championing the contemporary string quartet, the Arditti Quartet concluded a day-long marathon with six quartets from composers around the globe. Polished beyond belief, they gave mesmerising performances.

Appearing at Milton Court, Leila Josefowicz enclosed three short utterances from the 20th century with two works by Schubert. After a shaky start to the evening, Josefowicz turned out an impressive performance full of fire and flair, excelling in Stravinsky’s Duo concertant.

Coupling Busoni's arrangements of Bach with Beethoven and Liszt with Mussorgsky, Paul Lewis's programme ranged from inward contemplation to thrilling drama. Despite his elegant lyricism and nuanced readings, the recital was slightly marred by some surprising technical flaws.

A new collaboration between Aldeburgh Music, Opera North and The Royal Opera produced mixed results: while Francisco Coll's Café Kafka was a characterful piece which combined humour with darker undertones, Elspeth Brooke's The Commission proved less successful.

Dazzling Dalbavie and Pesson, buoyant Ravel and shaky Beethoven from the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Lionel Bringuier at the Barbican.

Exceptional performances of Grisey, Dufourt and Boulez were let down by weak Beethoven from the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov at the Barbican.

Although both works have the goal of E major in common, the final destinations of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Mahler’s Symphony no. 4 couldn’t be more different. Tugan Sokhiev and the Philharmonia fell short of what could have been, but the third movement of the Mahler stood out.

It seems appropriate that as the city is in the process of constructing its third Bosphorus bridge, music and the arts in Istanbul are also crossing barriers. Katy Wright reports from Istanbul on the city’s fast-growing private-sponsored arts scene.

This opera gala saw the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra mark their 15th anniversary with an unforgettable evening. The BIPO were joined by tenor Roberto Alagna, making his Istanbul debut, and mezzo-soprano Roxana Constantinescu, a rising star.

In his introduction to the programme, the orchestra’s Music Director Marios Papadopoulos says that it is the energy in Beethoven’s music which captures his attention, and this was certainly conveyed in the Oxford Philomusica’s performance of the piece.

The Carducci Quartet’s appearance in the Holywell Music Room marked the halfway point in the Oxford Coffee Concert’s Autumn series. This late-morning concert saw the ensemble pair two D major quartets, from 1781 and 1949. It was the latter which received the more convincing performance, with the quartet clearly more engaged with Shostakovich’s troubled utterance than Haydn’s lean textures.

After Renée Fleming was forced to withdraw due to a family emergency, soprano Sylvia Schwartz stepped in to perform with the Oxford Philomusica on the way to the Vienna Staatsoper. At just two days’ notice, Korngold, Zandonai and Leoncavallo were traded for Puccini, Verdi and Lehár.

Saturday saw the BBC Symphony Orchestra open their 2013/14 season with an evening of firsts. Not only was this Sakari Oramo’s first Barbican season concert as Chief Conductor, but the programme placed a première by leading “spectral” composer Tristan Murail alongside Shostakovich’s First Piano Concerto and Mahler’s First Symphony.

It was by coincidence that Tuesday’s Oxford Lieder Festival concert fell on Johann Mayrhofer’s 226th birthday. The Austrian poet was second only to Goethe in the number of texts chosen by Schubert, and the programme was a selection of the composer’s settings from 1817-1824. The lieder chosen for the recital fell under two themes: songs based upon classical myth, and those inspired by nature.

The penultimate concert in a three-year project to record the complete songs of Hugo Wolf, this Oxford Lieder Festival concert’s programme was based around settings of Goethe.

Although Vasily Petrenko only gave his first concert as chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra last week, Monday’s Prom heralded this as an exciting new partnership. In a programme built around dreams and fantasy, Petrenko led the orchestra through some fantastic performances, with their Tchaikovsky especially praiseworthy.

Featuring works inspired by Shelley, the Kalevala and Nietzsche (with a piano concerto thrown in for good measure), the programme for Prom 64 was certainly wide-ranging. The theme for the concert was the development of the tone poem, with the Bantock, Sibelius and Strauss pinned together by the idea of nature and the supernatural.

Oxford becomes much quieter outside of the university terms, and this was reflected in audience numbers for Saturday’s concert. Although the evening did not pan out as expected, those who were in the Sheldonian still came away having heard some brilliant performances.