Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Higgins

In Liverpool, an exploration of gay themes makes Gavin Higgins' extensive and virtuoso Clarinet Concerto a work which will surely become a mainstay of concert programmes in years to come. 

Adrian Partington opens the 2026 Three Choirs Festival with a powerful performance of music by Elgar and Walton, plus a UK premiere from Gavin Higgins. 

The Linbury re-opens its doors to opera with a new work whose libretto is superbly crafted by Francesca Simon, featuring a tour de force performance by Marta Fontanals-Simmons as the Norse goddess Hel.

Higgins never forgets that the concerto form has a playful element

The RSNO season begins with The Rite which ignites… eventually.

Brass bands and balletic phrases formed part of Rambert's new mixed bill at Sadler's Wells, which also including the world premiere of Mark Baldwin's big and bold celebration of Welsh mining tradition.

Sakari Oramo takes the reins for his first Last Night of the Proms, alongside dazzling violinist Janine Jansen and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.