Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | Francesca da Rimini, Op.32

“Abandon hope all ye who enter here” could have been the strapline for this brilliantly constructed, brilliantly played concert featuring music by Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Thomas Adès himself. 

A doom-laden trip to Dante's Inferno via Shakespeare's star-cross'd lovers and a voyage across the lake to The Isle of the Dead. 

Pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk delivers a knockout Rachmaninov Paganini Rhapsody while JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus present memorable Tchaikovsky and Ravel scores.

A potentially stimulating mix of full-bloodied Russian orchestral writing not fully realised by the RPO and Alpesh Chauhan, but with a promising concerto debut by Diana Adamyan.

A lot to commemorate but not all that much to celebrate in this concert given by the RPO with the twin Romanian combination of Cristian Mandeal and Alexandra Dăriescu.

Semyon Bychkov brought out the best in the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the latest concert of his Tchaikovsky project.

Two days after his stimulating solo recital, Lang Lang returned to the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House for Grieg’s Piano Concerto.

Stravinsky, Delius's evokation of the experience of Norwegain mountains, Rachmaninov and Tchaikosky in a stunning concert by the Hallé, the Hallé Choir and Sir Mark Elder 

Impressively, Principal Conductor Nézet-Séguin matched his predecessor, Valery Gergiev, with such high quality Russian repertoire. 

Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra produced an intriguing programme with some rare Taneyev, invigorating Tchaikovsky and fresh Sibelius.

I’m not sure where Sinbad was sailing to in the St Petersburg Philharmonic’s Prom last night, but he sure wanted to get there in a hurry. A frenetic – and thrilling – performance of Scheherazade displayed great impetuosity. 

The Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas tackled a brooding Romantic programme in a showcase of impressive power.

Though impressively performed by the Moscow players, conductor Yuri Simonov's interpretative choices did not always convince in Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

This past Thursday and Friday, Yo-Yo Ma (the CSO’s Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant), Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra tackled the immensely challenging Lutosławski Cello Concerto.

The haze of the surreal, somnambulistic nightscape of Witold Lutosławski’s Les espaces du sommeil cast its strange pall over the expanse of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s December 7 concert at Walt Disney Hall with Esa-Pekka Salonen at the podium.

For those who like their orchestral music Romantic, strident and generally unrelenting, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert on 1 November was just the job. Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major, played by Nicola Benedetti, was sandwiched in between two emotionally charged pieces of Tchaikovksy as the RPO under Diego Matheuz played to a packed Royal Festival Hall.

Esa-Pekka Salonen is an impressive conductor to watch. His movement is fluid, elegant and simple, yet he achieves a wide range of different gestures: I'm not an orchestral musician but I imagine that it would be very easy to follow his intent.