Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews

Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Southbank Chamber orchestra in a programme dedicated to the interpretation of classical dance forms.

Julius Drake’s torrential postlude capped an evening in which he had been superb throughout.

Fail to inject the composer's cathedral-sized symphonic structures with a sense of rapt wonder and they can sound dull.

Jun Märkl excels in an all-French program entitled “Vive la France”. 

Xian Zhang brought out the beauty of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s engaging sound and soprano Fatma Said gracefully beguiled us with Strauss.

Hamburg's revival of a 2015 production is a musical success, but the director's concepts are sometimes too dense to tell a straightforward story.

Thomas Søndergård and the RSNO with a beguiling performance of Ravel’s Schéhérazade from Catriona Morison, vivid Peer Gynt from Grieg and a vibrant Rachmaninov’s First Symphony

In her anxiety to be ‘new’, Shaw slaps a sackload of semi-comprehensible ideas onto a sort-of present day update.

Manchester's BBC Philharmonic packs a punch in an evening of orchestral greats.

A triumphant world première of Septime Webre's Wizard of Oz in Kansas City. 

Joshua Bloom and Paula Murrihy excel in Irish National Opera's staging of Bartók's opera, although director Enda Walsh takes too many liberties with the libretto. 

An emotionally intense Violetta from Mané Galoyan in Tom Cairns' darkly challenging La traviata launches Glyndebourne Tour's 50th season

Edward Gardner opens the Hallé's Thursday series with dramatic Strauss and Janáček.

Porgy and Bess isn’t a perfect opera, but English National Opera's new production is a strong one. 

I puritani returns to Barcelona’s Liceu with Annilese Miskimmon’s production. Javier Camerena and Pretty Yende lead the inauguration of the season with a fine example of romantic bel canto.

A forward-looking celebration of the past twenty years' of dance at Sadler's Wells, presenting the work of three emerging choreographers.

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Choir and an ideal team of soloists in a memorable performance of Britten's War Requiem.

NDT 2’s 'microcosm' is on display at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele with a mixed bill of four works created for these young talents

Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra – premiered by the BSO under Serge Koussevitzky and a familiar calling card ever since – opens the new season.

Mahler's Resurrection Symphony provides both a thrilling opener and apt metaphor for the orchestra's new era under Chief Conductor Semyon Bychkov.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karina Canellakis and with Pierre-Laurent Aimard as soloist, offer a scenic tour to territories once visualised by Sibelius, Dvořák and Bartók.

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

While the Tonhalle’s concert season officially began about a month ago, Paavo Järvi launched his own appointment here with demanding repertoire that met with great enthusiasm. 

Female voices dominate in the vocal cast: Rachel Willis-Sørensen debuts as Leonora and charms the audience; Anna Maria Chiuri has the temperament and rich vocality requested by the role of the gypsy.

Jean-Paul Scarpitta’s San Carlo staging was almost as minimal as a biblical oratorio.

After the UK première of Andris Dzenītis’ Māra and some Tchaikovsky operatic excerpts, the Gewandhaus returned to Mahler. 

The Royal Swedish Opera produces a new work based on a 1977 novel by Angela Carter, brought to life by composer Jonas S. Bohlin, librettist Torbjörn Elensky and visual artist Ann-Sofi Sidén.

The new Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester leads a passionate rendering of Mahler 5, while Håkan Hardenberger gives a masterclass in trumpet colour.

A new season for the Royal Ballet and a new star is "born" in this performance that highlights the company's strength in depth   

Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker's production of Six Brandenburg Concertos at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City disappoints

Projecting [space[ by Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods is a two hour immersion between dance and performance art, a way of finding the Other within us, presented at the Reinbeckhallen for HAU.

Fine musical performances meet Andrea Breth's dreary new production in a dramatically unsatisfying evening at the Staatsoper.

Beethoven, Kurth and Grieg under the baton of Michael Stern.

The Komische Oper's new staging of Korngold's opera doesn't quite offer the necessary scale or atmosphere. 

A great cast of exciting singers seals a success in Lille, despite a new production which fails to convince.

Omer Meir Wellber makes his first appearance with the BBC Philharminic since the announcement of his appointment as Chief Conductor Designate.

An evening of unfailing interest that flagged up the wonders of both David Owen Norris and Lawrence Power in variable performances of classic scores by Vaughan Williams. 

Abstract ballet always asks the question of meaning, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet is one of the few companies that answers that question with existential exactness. 

In his mesmerising London Piano Festival programme, Pavel Kolesnikov explores Couperin and Schumann.

Vladimir Jurowski led the LPO in a thoughtful and though-provoking concert that paired Beethoven's only full-length ballet, the joyous and energetic Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus with Stravinsky's cool and melancholy Orpheus.

As City Ballet grapples with lawsuits and lurid accusations, and the loss of an unprecendented number of male principals, new works by Kyle Abraham, Gianna Reisen, and Matthew Neenan stoke inspired performances from the dancers. 

Katie Mitchell's second production of Jenůfa is a straightforward, effective reading of the libretto well supported by excellent singing actors.

English Touring Opera’s new Radamisto took time to settle down on opening night.

Delights both sugary and strange in this revival of La Cenerentola by Welsh National Opera.

The passion of Alban Berg's music under Donald Runnicles fights against a disjointed production by Ole Anders Tandberg.

Fiery Prokofiev but lacklustre Britten with the National Orchestra of Belgium.

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.

This weekend’s performance of the Symphony no. 2 in C minor had innumerable beautifully detailed moments, with two excellent soloists and an immaculately prepared chorus. 

Ilya Gringolts brings his brand of unspectacular virtuosity to the ACO's latest programme, with the Paganini Violin Concerto no. 1 and Bartók's Divertimento clear highlights.

A glittering performance of Mason Bates’ recent “concerto for orchestra” was a thrilling journey wedged between pretty good Beethoven.