Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | Ailish Tynan

Annabel Arden’s production provides joyous comedy, with vocal and orchestral performances of the very finest.

Mark-Anthony Turnage's operatic adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg's tale of abuse provides rich entertainment even as it shocks.

Isabella Bywater directs an evocative new production of Britten’s ghost opera, well performed at the Coliseum. 

So many wonderful small details as well as the grand statements made this the extraordinary, thrilling performance of Mahler's second symphony Resurrection. 

Two outstanding performances by young singers light up a splendidly crafted revival of Caurier and Leiser's colourful production.

With Advent in full swing, and as 2021 draws to a close, it is comforting to be reminded of seasonal rituals expressed through the power of music: Sibelius, Finzi and Britten with BBC SO forces under Oramo.

Grange Park Opera's revival of its 2015 production of Puccini's La bohème hits some high notes with a very contemporary feel and some excellent singing from its leading ladies.

An evening of Hausmusik as friends gather to celebrate the birthday of one of the UK's finest pianists at Wigmore Hall. 

Aurora Orchestra prove too muscular for accompanying voices in Wigmore Hall, but Stephenson's setting of Rimbaud's poetry is impressive.

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

A concert performance of Handel's not-quite-an-opera proves a hit on tour in New York. 

Leading five choirs, fine soloists and a glowing Netherlands Philharmonic, conductor Marc Albrecht emphasised the human struggle in a highly dramatic performance of Mahler’s mammoth eighth symphony.

Ailish Tynan's powerful soprano soared above the massive forces of the choir in the thundering "Libera Me" – a wall of sound that blew the audience away.

I arrived at the Royal Opera House in the usual way, settled into my seat, and – could you believe it – the opera was gone!

Buribayev and NSO deliver a powerful Mahler 4 while Ailish Tynan sings of the heavenly delights, while Alina Pogostkina dishes up outstanding Mendelssohn.

The sheer contrast between each movement, the ferocity of the orchestra and the dynamism of Vasily Petrenko made for a whirlpool of a performance – dangerous, dark and occasionally tranquil. 

 The BBC National Orchestra of Wales on fine form showcasing British composers, with a little help from Chloe Hanslip and Ailish Tynan

At Garsington Opera, Richard Strauss' Intermezzo presents an utterly compelling picture of a mature marriage with its joys and trials; Mary Dunleavy brings it to life with a top class piece of acting.

Hansel and Gretel is often treated as a children's opera, suitable for family viewing at Christmas, but as Richard Jones' production demonstrates, it is a good deal darker than that.

A triumphant Elijah as Edward Gardner conducts the Blackheath Halls Chorus and Orchestra, joined by Matthew Rose, Ailish Tynan, Robert Murray and Louise Winter and young singers from Trinity Laban.

It’s so good to hear Tippett’s ravishing opera, The Midsummer Marriage, performed in full at the Proms, particularly in Britten’s centenary year. Tippet’s work is like an antidote to Britten’s drier, more literal operatic style – so overflowing with warmth, colour and hope.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Royal Philharmonic Society, and supporting their ethos of “music for all”, Prom 38 was completely free.

The bicentenary of Richard Wagner’s birth is inescapable, and it comes as no surprise that, however brief their offering, an institution as august as the Huddersfield Choral Society (HCS) could not allow the moment to pass without taking advantage of the opportunity to perform one of Wagner’s most impressive choral outbursts – “Wacht auf! Es nahet gen den Tag” (Awake! the dawn of day draws near) f

Sir Mark Elder conducted the Hallé in fine performances of Haydn’s final symphony, no. 104, and Mahler’s most humble, no. 4.There is a neat symmetry in pairing Haydn with Mahler symphonies, respectively viewed as the grandfather and zenith of the genre. There was further interest in coupling Haydn’s very last symphony with Mahler’s most classical, conceived almost a hundred years later.

The Tenth Anniversary of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artists Scheme is a landmark of no small size. This summer performance brought back some of the best singers it has produced for a semi-staged rendition of Rossini’s one-act 1825 opera Il Viaggio a Reims. It was a celebratory display of virtuoso held together with a generous dose of self-indulgence.

If ever a concert could be described as a firework, this was it. The stage was ignited with music and we waited for the best bit - that crucial, beautiful explosion of colour. As part of the Colston Hall’s International Classical Season, The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra performed the iconic choral work Carmina Burana by Carl Orff (1895-1982).

Composers have a long tradition of incorporating folk tunes into their music, and this evening’s concert by the National Youth Orchestra, with support from members of the folk group Bellowhead, really proved the point that musical genres are not separate boxes, but just points on a continuum, with no fixed boundaries.

It has become customary to give recent productions of Hänsel and Gretel a modern and often murkier twist, perhaps mirroring the current surge in popularity of darker stories, and the appetite for Nordic noir in particular.

The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and newly elected Chief Conductor Juanjo Mena began their season with a storming Mahler 2 which thoroughly deserved its lengthy standing ovation.Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.

Each year, BBC Proms provides a great opportunity for the UK regional orchestras (in particular for the non-BBC orchestras such as the Bournemouth Symphony, the Halle and the Liverpool Philharmonic) to showcase themselves. This year, I decided to sample Kirill Karabits and the Bournemouth Symphony as I have been hearing good things about this partnership for a while.

This reviewer fully expected not to enjoy today’s matinee, having read the recent Guardian review and heard mixed reports from friends who saw it when it first came out.

Handel’s opera Radamisto received a welcome staging at the English National Opera last Thursday, following on from their successful productions of Agrippina and Partenope in recent years.