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Musical impressions of Julius Caesar delivered with more flair, energy and virtuosity than one might expect on a Sunday morning! 

 Andrea Marcon and La Cetra give the first modern performance of Geminiano Giacomelli’s opera La Merope at the Concertgebouw. 

Cecilia Bartoli sang arias written (and not written) for Farinelli like a goddess, putting on and taking off a parade of varigendered costumes to the jubilant virtuosity of Les Musiciens du Prince.

Ann Hallenberg dazzles at the Halle Handel Festival with a programme of newly discovered gems from the Venice Carnival of 1729.

Conductor and violinist Fabio Biondi led the CSO in works of Corelli and Vivaldi, while Vivica Genaux served as an impressive soloist in a selection of Baroque arias.

Such is the growing popularity of the solo countertenor voice that in this past week I was able to hear four countertenor performances in London - the latest being Max Emanuel Cenčić.

It has been five years since mezzo Joyce DiDonato last sang in Amsterdam. In those five years, she won an Emmy Award, headed the cast of countless productions at the Met and Covent Garden, and has been recognized as one of the greatest opera singers of our time by the press and aficionados alike.

Picture a warm May evening, walking the narrow, silent, cool streets of the ancient capital of Malta, then sitting amongst a magnificent collection of 17th- and 18th-century art with a promise of secrets!This was the setting for a concert – no, in fact, a spectacular – held on Friday 10 May at the Cathedral Museum, Mdina.

When on Sunday afternoon Joyce DiDonato came onstage at Carnegie Hall, the savvy New York audience gave her a truly royal reception by welcoming her with a long ovation. Such a reaction from the audience was hardly surprising.

It was a touching moment when an overwhelmed Joyce DiDonato re-entered the stage after her fourth encore and covered her face with her hands for a few moments, not sure what to do in response to the unceasing applause.