Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | Sinfonia for Eight Solo Voices and Orchestra

Adams, Rachmaninov and Berio are not three easy bedfellows, however Kazuki Yamada and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra pull these strands together remarkably. 

The conductor directs the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Theatres of Voices in contrasting symphonies by Berio and Stravinsky.

Semyon Bychkov’s Prom appearances are always fascinating experiences and this was no different, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on tremendous form. 

One Prom + two oddball 20th century symphonies = a strangely satisfying experience, especially when in the hands of a youth orchestra, evidently open to the technical challenges and quirkiness of this relatively rare concert material.

On Friday, 25 October, the São Paulo Symphony presented an energetic and polished performance at the Southbank Centre. Part of the “The Rest is Noise Festival” focused on 20th century music, this programme took the turbulent 1960s as its theme.

If a single word can express disappointment without surprise, it would capture my feeling upon surveying the seats before this concert of 20th-century music at the Usher Hall. My heart went out to the musicians. However, upon seeing Ilan Volkov’s happy and positive demeanour and hearing the first notes, all such negativity dissolved, never to return.