Find classical music concert reviews

Biography, autobiography and the music of two composers combined in the latest BBC commission unveiled at the Proms.

A century on from its birth, one of Switzerland’s leading orchestras finally makes its Proms debut in a scintillating programme of French and Russian music.

Colour and light from Ludovic Morlot and the CBSO in Debussy and Ravel, but it was the power and depth of Lili Boulanger’s Psalm 130 that shone the brightest.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra’s Prom with Daniel Barenboim went in search of identity and found ecstasy

The Estonian Festival Orchestra makes its Proms debut in a refreshing Baltic-Nordic programme.

Yo-Yo Ma revisits the cello suites with a message for modern times and the polish of a showbiz pro.

In this afternoon Prom, Joshua Bell disappointed as a conductor. As a soloist, however, he came up with the goods.

McFall’s Chamber’s Red Blue Balance - music for chamber musicians and jazz trio, introduce three new works, revisit recent work and hark back to Bongo Club days with driving Zappa and swing band Raymond Scott pieces at Edinburgh’s Fringe.

Mozart, Dvořák and Dohnányi takes listeners at the Edinburgh Festival from Prussia to Hungary. 

The effervescent John Wilson and his orchestra make Bernstein's musical sparks fly.

The title of the latest programme by the Australian Chamber Orchestra is simply: Goldberg Variations. While Bernard Labadie’s ingenious arrangement of JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations for string orchestra takes up all of the second half of the programme, the first half was no less interesting.

Sir Antonio Pappano and his Santa Cecilia Orchestra display their collective strengths in first symphonies by Bernstein and Mahler.

Rattle excels in Dvořák and Janáček, but his rehabilitation of Bernstein stalls.

Returning with a challenging 20th-century program, Vasily Petrenko shows that his stellar debut with the Cleveland Orchestra was no fluke.

The Mostly Mozart Festival ended its season with an all-Mozart program centered on the Requiem. Paired with that was a piano concerto with Stephen Hough and the rarely-heard Meistermusik.

In a fin de siècle programme, Salonen and the Philharmonia demonstrated visceral excitement, and found ways to reinvent. 

Thea Musgrave’s pictorial writing sits well next to an exhilarating Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony. 

An intriguing programme of Britten, Walton, Barber and Copland provided dynamism, evocative imagery and new discoveries in Juanjo Mena’s valedictory concert with the BBC Philharmonic.

Sir Mark Elder and The Hallé orchestra are the powerhouse in a memorable performance of Siegfried. Simon O’ Neill, Iain Paterson and Christine Goerke head up a universally strong cast.

The ubiquitous cycle of life and death was explored in two contrasting works by Musgrave and Brahms in Richard Farnes’ debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

A remarkable feat of memorisation – a whole orchestra and no music! – made for an illuminating and exciting introduction to the Soviet composer's “victory” symphony.

The perfect invitation to daydream on a hot afternoon. 

The Minnesota Orchestra’s visit offered a chance to hear Gershwin’s Piano Concerto and Ives’ Symphony no. 2, though the former suffered somewhat from an absence of spark.

The “Festival Tour” and its three-venue concerts of the Davos Festival programme included almost as many visual and outdoor delights as it did musical treats. 

Aa fitting tribute to the 20th anniversary of State Opera of South Australia’s ongoing romance with the music of Richard Wagner.

Since its inception in 1986, the Davos Festival has given a platform to more than 2,080 young artists of promise. This 33rd festival year is no exception. 

Angels abound as Rachel Podger joins with VOCES8 for a collaborative exploration built around music from her Guardian Angel album.

Sparks were flying on Friday night, and not only from the feet of the Unthank sisters and fellow clog dancing Prommers. Sam Lee said it: “the folking Albert Hall”.

Hereford Cathedral experiences a mix of sacred and secular explorations of melancholy and triumph, from Stravinsky, Walton, Ravel and Lili Boulanger.

Miloš Karadaglić provides atmosphere and virtuosity in Joby Talbot’s newest work, while Alexander Vedernikov and the BBC Symphony Orchestra give Russian flourishes in Glinka and Tchaikovsky.

Anna Prohaska reigns supreme in programme of Cleopatra and Dido-inspired Baroque arias in her late night Prom.

Paolo Bortolameolli leads the LA Phil in a programme mixing the familiar with the obscure. 

Light shines through tears in a concert with a luxurious line-up of VOCES8, the Academey of Ancient Music and Robert Hollingworth at the Milton Abbey Music Festival in Dorset. 

Evocative Smyth and impressively detailed Strauss from Tausk, and warm Dvořák with soulful playing from Daniel Müller-Schott.

An imaginative pairing of London symphonies find the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in good form. 

In a highly virtuosic programme, Jospeh Tawadros challenged our expectations of the oud, through his own improvisatory compositions, as well as in a new commission from Jessica Wells.

Ilan Volkov conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in an attractive account of Strauss' mighty Alpine Symphony.

The Greek conductor and his hand-picked Russian orchestra offer high-voltage Beethoven that crackles.

Geraint Bowen directs the Three Choirs Festival Chorus and Philharmonic Orchestra at Hereford Cathedral in two works once unfairly dismissed.

Even if Hubert Parry was overshadowed by Holst and Vaughan Williams, this was a splendid concert of British music. 

It was only in the final moments of The Firebird that the orchestra let themselves go, following a series of sensitive and transparent performances.

A world première commemorating 9/11 and two works from the core German repertory performed by Paul Lewis and the BBC Philharmonic under Ben Gernon.

Stéphane Denève and Augustin Hadelich each prove themselves to be at the very forefront of performers active today. 

Contrasts are fine but they don’t always work: in a programme with a strongly Germanic flavour John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic stretch the boundaries.

A disparate set of pieces are connected to an intriguing theme in mostly successful performances, including Shostakovich from cellist Alisa Weilerstein.

In a passionate and evocative programme, South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho shows that his interpretive skills can start to blossom beyond mere technical prowess. 

A striking première by Eve Risser following Jean Rondeau’s captivating display of the virtuosic heights of French Baroque harpsichord writing.

Classy performances from Leonidas Kavakos and Ying Fang, joining Christoph Eschenbach and the Verbier Festival Orchestra in a polished Berg Violin Concerto and a sublime Mahler 4.

A generous programme by Alban Gerhardt and Víkingur Ólafsson saw a tale of two halves, with the classical poise of the first half and the more extrovert showpieces of the second. 

Thomas Søndergård’s final performance as chief of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales sees them pull off Mahler 8 in style.