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Kristjan Järvi conducts the Brussels Philharmonic and the Vlaams Radiokoor in a programme of Arvo Pärt's music. 

Part of Brussels' Ars Musica festival, the concert also included a fun world premiere by Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber, and the riveting Streaming Arhythmia by Anna Thorvaldsdottir.

Nocturne may not be your dreamlike, moonlit summer night stroll, but quite a grim-visaged journey, threateningly dark with the occasional shaft of light piercing through in powerful, sonorous tutti.

Denève and the Brussels Philharmonic launched into Guillaume Connesson’s Flammenschrift with enough excitement and energy to illuminate the whole city.

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Choir and an ideal team of soloists in a memorable performance of Britten's War Requiem.

This year’s NTR ZaterdagMatinee concert series in Amsterdam kicked off with a Boris Godunov that left nothing to be desired.

Exuberance and reflection from the Brussels Philharmonic in a celebration of Leonard Bernstein.

An enterprising programme combined a striking WWI commemoration from Mark-Anthony Turnage with sumptuous ballet suites from Prokofiev and Ravel, with Nikolaj Znaider rhapsodic in Bruch.

Richard Wagner, reviewing La Reine de Chypre for the Dresden Abend-Zeitung, praised Halévy's opera as “decidedly the best that has appeared on the Opéra's boards since Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots”. It's impossible not to agree. 

A sadly under-attended concert by Stéphane Denève and the Brussels Philharmonic saw fine technique and a clear appreciation of the final pieces of Rachmaninov and Prokofiev's careers.

As the first non-Russian orchestra to tackle a complete Semyon Kotko, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic gave a tension-propelled performance under the inspired leadership of Vladimir Jurowski.

Jérémie Rhorer led a turbocharged performance of this rare Spontini opera, which, although it tires with its grandiose hyperbole, contains excerpts that deserve to be heard more often.

A mixed bag from the Brussels Phil on their UK tour, with César Franck's Symphony proving the highlight. 

Whether Scriabin or Nemtin, the Mysterium impresses with its programme, length and orchestration.

It is the first version of Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, with piano and harmonium, that the Flemish Radio Choir and Hervé Niquet chose to perform, their fine performance demonstrating the originality and impact of this more intimate version.

Edward Gardner and Edward Caswell offered the British choir tradition in the form of Elgar's The Kingdom as a refreshingly programmed alternative to the many Bach passions. The combined choirs excelled together with an impressive Edith Haller.

James Gaffigan, aided by a fine cast of soloists led by the full-blooded Rigoletto of Dimitri Platanias, demonstrated that Verdi's powerfully dramatic music does not need staging to keep the audience captivated.

Miloš Karadaglić plays his debut at Colston Hall with Brussels Philharmonic under Michel Tabachnik. 

Lyrical pathos and battering choral climaxes were the strong suits at the Dutch première of Hans Werner Henze’s incendiary oratorio Das Floβ der Medusa.

The Concertgebouworkest's series based on 'the sublime' continues with an eclectic programme of Ockeghem, Ligeti, Varèse and Ravel at the Concertgebouw. 

We celebrate this year the bicentennials of two of the most influential composers of the 19th century. Yet celebrations in Amsterdam have been rather one-sided so far.

In its sixth season, the Zurich International Concert Series has attracted some well-known, but less-heard orchestral names to London. The series enables the full force of orchestras to be heard in the relatively intimate space of Cadogan Hall, which is otherwise famous for attracting chamber ensembles of the highest calibre.

Classical music is often portayed as being very serious, which is part of what makes it seem inaccessible at times. But this is a mistake: there are plenty of pieces that are, in a word, fun.