Live, Video: Kritiken zu klassischen Konzerten, Opern, Ballett und Tanz finden | Matthew Truscott

Who needs a conductor? The OAE under the direction of Matthew Truscott reveal the delightful range and character of Haydn, from his symphonic beginnings to the very end.

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment dip into the late Romantic period to make the case for more Saint-Saëns in this rip-roaring concert under Russian conductor Maxim Emelyanychev.

Mezzo soprano Karen Cargill and the Scottish Ensemble guest-led by Matthew Truscott in a programme of music from Purcell to Stravinsky all inspired by tales from Ancient Greece.

Yuja Wang et le Mahler Chamber Orchestra inaugurent leur tournée européenne à la Fondation Louis Vuitton. Un programme audacieux qui confronte l’esthétique néoclassique de Stravinsky avec le romantisme à fleur de peau de Chopin, en les plaçant dans l’héritage de Mozart et de Beethoven.

Ian Page's new ensemble kicked off with a feisty performance of Mozart's Symphony No. 29 and Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra with two splendid arias sung by Louise Alder.

Isabelle Faust and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment find steely freshness in Mozart, with brooding intensity and accentuated twists and turns in Haydn and CPE Bach.

It's likely that Mozart never actually heard his Clarinet Concerto performed. That fate, happily, has not been shared by Michael Gordon, who has heard Peter Whelan perform his new bassoon concerto Observations on Air four times this week. 

The Scottish Ensemble's seasonal concert by candlelight looks at J.S. Bach and those inspired by his music.  

The Baroque credentials of St John's Smith Square were thoroughly endorsed in a beautifully proportioned concert by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment directed by the doyenne of British Baroque violinists, Rachel Podger.

Mozart and Schubert were performed with superb technical assurance and cool precision as part of the Winchester Chamber Music Festival.

Can you imagine being a concertgoer in the early years of the 18th century, when Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel were all writing new music and performers were being pushed to find new ways of playing?

Short, but nonetheless entertaining, the lunchtime series at St George’s, Bristol put on a show with the final of their Hidden Haydn concerts. The programme was designed to explore the lost and less frequently played works of Franz Joseph Haydn (1832-1809), with a couple of treats from less well-known composers thrown in.

If you love Bach – and who doesn’t? – Birmingham was the place to be this weekend, for a delicious series of concerts, lectures and discoveries at the Town Hall and Symphony Hall under the heading ‘Bach: A Beautiful Mind’.

Ian Page and the Classical Opera Company have made a specialty of performing early Mozart operas and at the weekend, they gave two performances of his two-act serenata, Il re pastore as part of the series “Mozart Unwrapped” at Kings Place.

Whether intentionally or not, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has done Christianity’s street cred a great service this week. As the St Paul’s protest furore continues to grow, the orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis was a reminder that for the composer and countless others, religion is first and foremost about the comfort of spirituality.

Put on a good quality string trio at a London classical music venue and there's one thing you can be sure about: the average age of the audience is going to be over 60. But then the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment weren't exactly playing by the usual rules.