The Principal Guest Conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Krzysztof Urbański, partners Vadim Gluzman in Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto, but is strangely uninspired by Mendelssohn’s tribute to the joys of Italy.
Anna Maria della Pietà may not be the most celebrated violinists in history, but she inspired Antonio Vivaldi to write some of his finest concertos, two of which were heard in this tribute to three of the Red Priest's muses.
Floris Visser’s staging transforms Vivaldi’s biblical oratorio into a credible wartime drama. The young cast is proficient, and La Cetra Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Andrea Marcon, nothing short of miraculous.
The Scottish Ensemble with guitarist Sean Shibe perform a thoughtful programme of ancient and modern Christmas-themed music in a candlelit St John’s Kirk.
Vivica Genaux enjoys huge success in a Melbourne concert of Baroque delights, the first venture of Sydney's Pinchgut Opera Company outside its home turf.
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.
In Fabio Biondi's hands Vivaldi's big violin concertos clearly surpass Mozart in mature power and beauty and rival Bach in imagination and emotional richness.
One had the opportunity to see The Cleveland Orchestra function as a true chamber ensemble without conductor as a program of Vivaldi, Haydn and Mendelssohn was led by concertmaster William Preucil.
Four years ago, the ACO mounted The Reef. Mountain is clearly its successor: another film project involving scenes of nature peopled by extreme-sports enthusiasts, screened while an eclectic soundtrack is played live by the orchestra.
Maurice Steger brought this essential but under-represented instrument from Renaissance and Baroque chamber and ensumble music to a mainstream concert hall.
Leonard Elschenbroich joined with the 12 ensemble for an evening dedicated to the Suite italienne, a stroll through time though with a focus on contemporary composers.
It's typical that in the last concert in a series that has lasted seventeen years, we had a recital from a talented young singer with a growing reputation, a Rosenblatt classic.
As always in the librettos of the time, the historical events are just a weak excuse to stage timeless stories of jealousy, struggle for power, sexual desire – the ingredients in today's television series.
For her London recital debut, Sondra Radvanovsky offered a varied programme of ranging from Bellini to Barber, showing off the technique with which she has dazzled American audiences.
Joined by the exquisitely subtle Accademia Bizantina led by Alessandro Tampieri, Scholl brought little-known but no less great devotions to the Virgin Mary to life with impetus and intimacy.
Excellent choral concert for Handel Festival at Karlsruhe, featuring works by Vivaldi and Handel, which also highlight up-and-coming countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński.
A satisfying concoction of Italian concertos from the Academy of Ancient Music had Frank de Bruine leading the charge on oboe, with pristine performances also from violin and harpsichord.
Conductor and violinist Fabio Biondi led the CSO in works of Corelli and Vivaldi, while Vivica Genaux served as an impressive soloist in a selection of Baroque arias.
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is used a reference in Anna Meredith’s Anno, an immersive performance by the Scottish Ensemble with surround visuals by illustrator Eleanor Meredith.
It's not his most commonly performed work, but with a crack team of vocal (and orchestral) soloists, Andrea Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra gave a fabulous account of Vivaldi's only surviving oratorio.
Julia Lezhneva partners with Richard Tognetti and the ACO to deliver a thrilling program of Baroque arias, in which her vocal agility and expressivity are on full display.
The specialist musicians that gather in this Swiss alpine setting every summer can be counted upon to give solid performances. The fourth Baroque concert in this year’s series was no exception.
Outdoor concerts are always prey to the vicissitudes of weather. The Festival of Early Music in Lativa is so well organized, unexpected light rain started just at the beginning of the interval and politely ceased before the second half of the programme.
Giovanni Antonini conducts the Tonhalle Orchestra in an appealing programme of works by Beethoven, Bach and Vivaldi that marked the Zurich debut of the dynamic Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital.
In its Balkan-Baroque! programme, Geneva Camerata – inspired by clarinettist Gilad Harel – really found their groove in a variety of dances from the Balkan regions.
Craig Ogden in Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Guitar Concerto no. 1 is the highlight of the Northern Chamber Orchestra's varied concert of (mostly) Italian music in Macclesfield.
São Paulo Companhia de Dança presents a mixed programme of works by Edouard Lock, Jomar Mesquita and Nacho Duato at the Théâtre Maisonneuve in Montréal
Widely considered one of the finest oboists of his generation, Albrecht Mayer gave a riveting performance with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra at the city’s Tonhalle.
