Perpetual Light - A triumphant new choral work

The London Sinfonietta and Martyn Brabbins pay tribute to Sir Harrison Birtwistle with a programme of very fine music-making at London's Southbank Centre.

A ruthless Russian leader quelling revolt and uniting his country through waging war on its neighbours: the theme of Sergei Eisenstein’s film Ivan the Terrible, intended as a Soviet propagandist parable, raises a knowing eyebrow even today. Excerpts from Prokofiev’s score formed the bulk of this raucously enjoyable concert by the Philharmonia under Vladimir Ashkenazy, beneath a screening of key scenes from the film itself.

A mixed bill of modern work showcases the diverse talents of The Royal Ballet.

A double bill from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Tarik O'Regan gives us two unsettling portraits of women whose lives have been indelibly touched by the eternal: an unamed Victorian medium, and the Virgin Mary. 

Bampton Classical Opera is a company dedicated to performing rarely-performed 18th-century operas, and every summer they stage a new production with a cast of young and upcoming singers at their base in Bampton in Oxfordshire. This year’s production was a double-bill of French opéras comiques by Philidor and Grétry, which they brought to London’s St John’s Smith Square last week.

Die Jahrzehnte dauernde Rückkehr des Dirigenten nach Heidelberg avanciert zu einem ergreifenden, begeisternden Fest von Botschaft und Musik, mit dem er interpretatorisch weiter in fast eigener Liga spielt.