Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Prince Igor: Overture

An evening of Russian classics at the Royal Festival Hall, where Esther Yoo joins the RPO to play Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. 

In a performance that brought to mind Jacqueline du Pré, Camille Thomas helps us fall in love with Elgar's Cello Concerto all over again.

Some rousing singing from the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir of the famous choruses from the great operas. 

Warhorse (noun): creaky old classic played by orchestras in their sleep at least once a season.  There was absolutely no snoozing, however, through Alice Sara Ott's startling performance with the Philharmonia.

In the third concert presentation of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov in London this season, the Philharmonia's semi-staged attempt, conducted by Jakub Hrůša, was admirable. 

A virtuosic performance from Nemanja Radulović of Paganini was the highlight of Fabien Gabel's concert with the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France.

Spirited performances from the Bournemouth Symphony, conducted by Julian Kuerti, in a trio of Russian classics. 

Prom 30 saw the return of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under its Conductor Laureate Gianandrea Noseda with a Russian-themed programme. Prokofiev, Borodin and Tchaikovsky were played alongside Edward Cowie’s BBC commission and world première Earth Music I – The Great Barrier Reef.The Borodin overture and Polovtsian dances from Prince Igor served as an energy-injection to the start of the evening.

It took the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra a little while to settle into tonight’s performance – which was a shame, because Borodin’s overture to Prince Igor can be a fantastic programme opener. A slightly untidy brass chord began the measured introduction, which sadly lacked tension in the build-up to the sudden fanfare and breakneck main theme.

The beautiful thing about music is that it can be a physical embodiment of passion. Violinist Andrew Haveron’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on Thursday night in Dublin occasionally felt like it lacked a bit of passion, dazzlingly virtuosic though his performance was.