Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | Violin Concerto, Op.14

Alena Baeva's exhilarating performance of Barber's Violin Concerto is the highlight of the Hallé 's American-themed concert under Marta Gardolińska. 

Musical Americana as RLPO Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan makes his BBC Symphony Orchestra debut. 

Pappano's transition from pit to podium continues in London, with fine results in a Barbican programme of Boulanger, Barber and Rachmaninov. 

Jessie Montgomery's 2016 Records from a Vanishing City enthralls, Barber’s Violin Concerto is exquisite; Schumann's Rhenish disappoints.

New Zealand-born violinist Geneva Lewis soars in Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, framed in Giordano Bellincampi's programme by Korngold and Dvořák.

Maria Ioudenitch joins the Symphony for Samuel Barber's popular Violin Concerto. 

Jordan de Souza conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra fails to set our reviewer's heart racing, but the young Swedish violinist John Dalene most certainly does.

Hilary Hahn plays Barber's Violin Concerto with understated lyricism, but Jaap van Zweden's Mahler disappoints.

Dvořák's “New World” Symphony anchored a program that celebrated the diversity and sweep of the American sound world, alongside Barber's Violin Concerto and a Mason Bates world premiere.

A concert of Americana characterised by great tunes and infectious rhythms, but lacking emotional involvement and only partially realised communication by soloist Valeriy Sokolov.        

Superb communication as the RSNO support their own leader in Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto.

Litton’s experienced hands reveal deep understandings of Copland, Barber and Walton, delivering a programme of stark emotional contrasts.

Guest conductor James Gaffigan celebrated musical Americana in a program of Copland, Barber, Ellington, and Karpman. 

There were no unorthodox interpretations in this program, which featured The Cleveland Orchestra’s associate concertmaster Jung-Min Amy Lee in Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, just excellent, straightforward music making.

Exhilarating Adams and insightful The Planets from the BSO and Karabits, with a Proms debut from Nemanja Radulović in Barber with great presence and warmth.

John Wilson oversees a glossy, superficial take on early 20th-century works from England and the USA.

Eiji Oue doesn't quite convince in Bernstein and Copland, but Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto proves a winner. 

Gil Shaham and Juraj Valčuha join the San Francisco Symphony for electrifying performances reminding listeners of the true joy of dialogic music-making and the excitement of high-caliber ensemble collaboration.

Karabits leads an adventurous programme at the BSO’s Poole home, with flamboyant violinist Nemanja Radulović on surprisingly refined form in the Barber Concerto.

Assistant Conductor Joseph Young led a flat performance of the beloved Dvořák New World Symphony and violin soloist Joseph Swensen played an eccentric version of the Barber Violin Concerto. 

Conductor Brett Mitchell also led worthy performances of Dvořák’s The Noon Witch and Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, joined by student ensemble, the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra.

Under Cristian Măcelaru's baton, Al-Zand, Barber, and Copland paint a memorable American scene.

Any orchestral endeavor in Cleveland stands in the looming shadow of The Cleveland Orchestra, not just in an artistic sense, but also, in a relatively small city such as Cleveland, in a competition for audience. Various previous chamber orchestras have fallen to the exigencies of financing such a venture.

My return to La Maison Symphonique in Montreal on Wednesday was a bag full of surprises. The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal opened with a work I didn’t even know was on the programme; the accompanying orchestra put in a stronger showing than the soloist in the concerto; and a difficult symphony was done so well it practically jumped at the audience.

The Dresden Philharmonic brought classy Brahms, Barber and Dvořák to Manchester as part of their UK tour in a forward-looking programme of musical new beginnings. If incisive thrust was occasionally lacking, they more than compensated with elegance all evening.

The Napa Valley is famous for its picturesque countryside, stunning weather and fine wine. With the ambitious Festival del Sole concluding their seventh season on Sunday night with a concert featuring two titans of classical music - Joshua Bell and Hélène Grimaud – they proved that “wine country” has even more to offer the Northern California region than that which makes them one of the premier de

There's more to music than timing, and there's more to timing than music. Timing – as it affects programming – can be a powerful thing. Context amplifies compositions; anniversaries add resonance; personal connections contribute to emotional effect – such as in this concert, RSNO conductor Stéphane Denève's au revoir to Edinburgh.