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Between gigs at Wembley as Coldplay’s support act, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra brings its distinctive brand of infectious music-making to the Southbank.

An exceptional programme with insight, didn’t quite fulfil itself with renditions that had understanding, but lacked a little polish and refinement.

Alongside works by Bernstein and Copland, conductor David Robertson and pianist Nicolas Hodges give the US premiere of Jolas's cheeky concerto bTunes.

Fabien Gabel and the CBSO deliver exhilaration and emotion in works by Bernstein and Weill, joined by Colin Currie for Danny Elfman’s generic Percussion Concerto.

Sir Simon Rattle, Tim Reynish and Clark Rundell take the baton in turn, to celebrate the past and present of Liverpool’s Youth Orchestras. 

The RLPO and their Chief Conductor start the new season with American swagger as Paul Lewis joins them for two jazz-infused piano works. 

Making a rare guest appearance in Seattle, the trailblazing conductor brings fresh intensity to familiar Shakespeare-inspired repertoire.

Weathered, Anna Clyne’s new clarinet concerto which showcases the remarkable skills of Swedish player Martin Fröst, receives its UK premiere.

From the streets of New York to America’s southern states, Daniele Rustioni with the Ulster Orchestra present an all American evening, with some fine playing. 

Korngold's concerto is at the heart of The Hallé's concert of American urban music which also features Gershwin, Higdon and Bernstein.

Lilya Zilberstein, Gabriela Montero and Martha Argerich were just three of the pianists in this celebration of the piano in Hamburg. 

Cristian Măcelaru conducts The Hallé in music by Copland, Bernstein and Gershwin, plus his own arrangement of Jake Heggie's Moby Dick.

Principal Guest Conductor Kazuki Yamada teases brilliant French sounds from the CBSO.

Bringing their residency to a close, Anderson and Roe perform Mozart’s concerto for two pianos. Anu Tali makes her RLPO debut with Bernstein, Tubin and Sibelius.

In an all-Bernstein programme, Nicola Benedetti enthralls in Symposium, the Baltimore Symphony’s percussionists strut their stuff in the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and Marin Alsop introduces us to rarities. A true birthday treat.

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

It was a concert of two halves for RSNO's Bernstein tribute.

On 4th October, the Philadelphia Orchestra opened the Carnegie Hall season with an all 20th-century American program featuring George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.

The Boston Symphony begins a new chapter revisiting a golden one from its recent past. Hatima tovah!

The BBC Concert Orchestra and Keith Lockhart offered a snapshot of the Bard's lasting artistic impact with music for composed for stage and screen, from this side of the Atlantic and beyond the pond.

Considering tonight's performance celebrated interpretations of a single Shakespeare play, it presented remarkably varied music. 

At a time of love and literature in fairest Barcelona, the scene was laid at the Liceu for interpretations by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Berlioz and Bernstein of Shakespeare's timeless tale.

A pair of star-cross’d lovers from opposite ends of the globe formed the highlights of this visit of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra to Cadogan Hall. 

On the final night of their mammoth European tour, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra played a brilliantly energetic programme to a delighted Bridgewater Hall audience. There was a great deal to commend in the playing, despite some capricious tempo choices in Mahler’s first symphony.

There is a tendency in the reviews of Marin Alsop to start by mentioning the obvious; that is, she is the first female conductor to have conducted the last night of the Proms and that she is the first female Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. So let me start with the surprising: that Alsop is Irish.

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.

The reason for this all-American programme was ostensibly pragmatic: the concert was to coincide with the opening night of the British-American Business Council annual conference. In practice, the programme was a triumph. Significantly, dozens of schoolchildren were present to witness an evening of fine and involving music-making.The concert began with Charles Ives’ Variations on America.

It was hard to believe, listening to this evening’s Late Mix concert at the Sage, that three out of the four pieces played had in fact been substituted at the last minute after a soloist’s sudden illness meant that the original programme couldn’t be performed. Especially as all three pieces retained the spirit of adventure and exploration in which the Late Mix series specialises.

Love may be a familiar feeling, but the passion Aurora Orchestra unleashed at LSO St Luke’s was enough to leave audiences wild with desire. Exploring the darkest undertones of love—anguish, jealousy, remorse and regret—Friday night’s programme, Jealous Guy, was woven together by tango music interspersed with tragic love stories from across musical history.

Was für ein furioser Einstieg: Matthias Pintscher, der frischgebackene Chefdirigent des Kansas City Symphony entführt sein Orchester direkt am Anfang seiner ersten Spielzeit über den großen Teich zu einer Europatournee.

Dans le concerto pour violon de Cattaneo (avec une Patricia Kopatchinskaja toujours fulgurante) comme dans Strauss et Bernstein, Alexandre Bloch et l'Orchestre National de Lille ont livré une grande démonstration d'art orchestral.

Le Philhar' propose un concert de Noël sans grand rapport avec la Nativité mais on ne s'en plaindra pas, tant son programme américain est passionnant sous la baguette de Robert Treviño.

En deux jours, avec des programmes associant pages symphoniques et extraits d'œuvres lyriques, l'orchestre new-yorkais a montré son art et ses singularités au public parisien, 22 ans après sa dernière venue en France.

À la Halle au Blé d'Altkirch, la pianiste Célia Oneto Bensaid commence une prometteuse tournée alsacienne, avec de belles transcriptions originales servies par un jeu d'une grande netteté.

Músicas de Bernstein, Gershwin, Márquez y Revueltas para un mosaico entre Nueva York y México con música y músicos de cine, atmósferas míticas y un clima de fiesta que inundó el Auditorio Nacional.

La Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana llenó el Palau de les Arts de sonidos del otro lado del Atlántico con obras de Bernstein y Copland.

L'Orchestre de Radio-France s'invite à la Philharmonie pour un programme à l'accent américain, de Fauré à Bernstein en passant par Glass (création française du Double concerto) et Copland.

La Sinfónica Nacional se unió al festejo del 100 aniversario del nacimiento de Leonard Bernstein, ofreciéndonos un programa con una selección de sus obras, con la interesante excepción de La pregunta sin respuesta, de Charles Ives. 

Stéphane Denève, à la tête d’un Brussels Philharmonic en belle forme, fait entendre plusieurs facettes du talent de cet artiste protéiforme.

Die Münchner Philharmoniker interpretieren unter der Leitung von Semyon Bychkov ein vielfältiges Programm mit experimentellen Klängen. 

Alondra de la Parra y Pacho Flores elevaron la temperatura del Palacio Euskalduna en una noche de marcado aire latino.

Lahav Shani dirigierte das Philharmonische Orchester Rotterdamm bei Weills zweiter Symphonie, spielte das Solo bei Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue und tanzte bei Bernsteins West Side Story.

Dans ce choix réside à la fois la force et la faiblesse d’une direction à la virtuosité et aux appétits bienvenus, mais encore peu prompte à la démesure et à une certaine profondeur.