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Conductor Christoph Eschenbach brings style and sophistication to a freewheeling finale to this year's festival, ending with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

As the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall closes for extensive refurbishment, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performs early, massive Mahler under Simone Young. 

Under conductor Thomas Hengelbrock, the Tonhalle Orchester ensemble and 60-voice configuration of the Balthasar Neumann Choir perform the legendary Elijah oratorio at Zurich’s Tonhalle Maag.

Fine orchestral sound and outstanding solo singing from Sarah Connolly and Steve Davislim aren't enough to compensate for poor balance and timing in Beethoven's great choral work.

Giorgio Strehler’s production of Mozart’s Abduction, revived by Mattia Testi in Naples, is smooth and sophisticated.

A strong cast led by Anna Stéphany's Sesto made the most of the last opportunity to hear Glyndebourne's production of Mozart's final opera.

In the final weekend of season, Muti led the CSO in a divinely inspired Bruckner Ninth, fittingly paired with the Te Deum.

As part of their blockbuster festival programme Simon Rattle and his brawny Berliners offered Beethoven’s Ninth in a monumental performance. 

This was a rapturous celebration of creative instrumentation, virtuosity and brilliance that completely engaged and energized.

Bernard Haitink and the LSO in fine form for an all-Beethoven programme, but the 'Glorious Ninth' fails to impress.

Not everything worked in Gilbert's Beethoven Nine, but the stunning finale redeemed all.

Under conductor Alan Gilbert, the New York Philharmonic and the New York Choral Artists gave an inspired but slightly uneven performance of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor on Wednesday night. Playing with great panache as well as a mindful sense of the historical weight of the piece, the vocalists and musicians gave bristling and glistening life to a timeless work.

Every now and then I like to experiment. Reviewing a concert in which I know none of the music can be frightening, but also exciting and – always – surprising. Thus I was slightly apprehensive but wholly enthusiastic about attending this LSO concert featuring works unknown to me by Bartók and Szymanowski.

An element of conflict inhabits the combination of an evening out and a requiem mass. This thought ran through my mind as I approached Edinburgh's Usher Hall, the sunny foreground of which was populated by happy-looking concert-goers greeting friends.