Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Chopin

Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov gave a refined and intimate performance of works by Fryderyk Chopin in the penultimate Chamber Prom of the 2017 season.

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.

Colours poured in through a metaphorical stained glass window in Verbier's church.

A recital of incomparable but unrelated works became a lengthy attempt to adapt tempi.

Mikhail Rudy’s recital adapting music to animated art projections disappoints. 

The complex world of Górecki, Bacewicz and Cytż is contrasted with Dvořák and Chopin as The Scottish Ensemble embarked upon an Eastern European journey with guest director Bartosz Woroch.

In his Wigmore Hall recital Nikolai Lugansky surveys the Russian seasons and explores Polish dance rhythms.

An earthy – if slow – Pictures at an Exhibition from Yuri Simonov and the Moscow Philharmonic in Basingstoke is like a musical step back in time. 

There are not many classical musicians on the international circuit who could achieve the ‘legend’ status; whose concerts would be attended by adoring fans rushing to the stage at the conclusion of the recital, who would be referred to by a nickname, suggesting an ongoing relationship and familiarity with their fans.

At Carnegie Hall, a lion in winter focuses on Chopin.

With a Francophile programme of Berlioz, Chopin and Franck, conductor Fabien Gabel had the constant challenge of exploring the orchestra for fresh insights into each of these Romantic works.

Sterling Hyltin owns The Concert and seems to be having the best time of anybody onstage.

American pianist Jonathan Biss explored the notion of late style in a programme of works by Schumann, Kurtág, Chopin and Brahms which revealed a common intensity of expression regardless of the composer's age.

Jan Lisiecki displays total control in Chopin, troublesome acoustics mar Bernstein and Rachmaninov.

Collins gives a scintillating performance of Bach and a highly expressive account of Schubert, Schumann and Chopin.

The Hiroshima Symphony promotes a war-free world through music.

The fabulous new Narodowe Forum Muzyki in Wrocław presented a very original Silvester offering of Szymanowski, Grieg and Dvořák.

The first performance of the Boston Symphony’s final program for 2016 fell on St Cecilia's Day. The patron saint of music must have been pleased to see the past, the present and the future join hands in a program anchored by two warhorses of the Romantic repertory.

In an unusual setting in Baden, the fine pianist Emanuel Ax coupled his exploration of demanding technique with a keen expressive focus, making an unparalleled musical experience.

“Wigmore Hall is flooded now!” confessed Philippe Cassard. It was Claude Debussy who left the tap running, with every form of precipitation – rain, snow, fog – pouring from the Steinway's keyboard, trickling from fountain, springing from river beds. 

Benjamin Northey and Andrea Lam team up with the MSO for a festive evening of Vaughan Williams, Chopin and Holst.

Dances at a Gathering is a ballet that we never get tired of because it speaks to enduring truths and its pull of nostalgia only gets stronger as the years pass.

An intelligent programme from Benjamin Grosvenor, demonstrating his virtuosic command and stylistic range.

Where does one go to hear some of the world’s greatest pianists? To Jerusalem. More specifically, the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, the annual ten-day musical delight in the Holy City in early September. 

Musical pilgrims gathered in Verbier's church to listen to the cult Russian pianist in a programme of Schumann and Chopin. 

Lang Lang displays his artistry in a mostly Romantic programme.

An all Robbins program at New York City Ballet is one of my favorite things.

The Garth Newel Piano Quartet presented a "French Feast" of delectable chamber works by Ravel, Chausson and Florent Schmitt that was a gastronomical as well as musical triumph.

A risk-averse approach ruined the dramatic spontaneity of the Ballades but the 24 Preludes in the second half were much more convincing. 

Freshness and intensity were brought to Beethoven's later piano sonatas, including a convincing Hammerklavier, together with a welcome performance of his last work for solo piano.

A highly memorable all-Chopin evening from Ingrid Fliter, with great physicality, fire and expression.

An excellent second half performance of Chopin's Four Ballades is preceded by an interpretation of waltzes and études that often lacks nuance of phrasing and dynamics.

The latest bill from the Richard Alston Dance Company shows its leader as a consummate teacher: studied, scholarly, thoughtful.

San Francisco Ballet pairs Possokhov’s irresistible multimedia dazzler “Swimmer” with Robbins’ elegant “Dances at a Gathering”, for a compelling night of dance.

Having watched the web live-stream of Seong-Jin Cho’s performances at last year’s Chopin Competition and subsequently listened to the live CD as well, I already had a fair idea of his playing.

A packed Festival Hall heard Maurizio Pollini recapture his glory years in sublime Chopin. 

An enchanting Ashton double bill in Birmingham comprising The Dream, to mark Shakespeare400, and A Month in the Country. 

The Flanders Symphony Orchestra performed music by Mozart and Beethoven, with Russian pianist Nikolai Demidenko joining them for Chopin's Piano Concerto no. 1 in E minor.

Both composers whose music was performed in Garrick Ohlsson’s Sydney solo concert were motivated by other artists, namely painters, thus an originally visual experience became audial in the resulting compositions.

At age 92, Menahem Pressler presented a demanding recital at Symphony Center. Results were mixed, but his reverence to the music was incontrovertible.

Alexander Melnikov summons up the full range of pianistic emotions in Chopin's 24 Preludes, followed by exploration of texture and dynamic contrast in Scriabin.

A daring programme, with more than enough technical challenges which produced exciting, if uneven performances.  

Delicate Mozart from Maria João Pires makes up for an aggressive Bruckner 4 from the LSO and Daniel Harding. 

Introducing a relatively unknown young pianist to Birmingham Symphony Hall and performing an old standard of the symphonic repertoire, could Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestra produce any surprises?

In a concert of music by Mozart, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Chopin, pianist Jan Lisiecki demonstrated sparkling technique but with little sense of musicality or insight.

Andsnes continues to woo Irish audiences with a concert of miniatures.

Friendschip, new discoveries and variety of musical expressions at the opening concert of the 10th Pianoscope Festival in Beauvais.

The Pacific Northwest Ballet's season opener captures different periods of neoclassical ballet with Christopher Wheeldon's Tide Harmonic, George Balanchine's Prodigal Son and Jerome Robbin's The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody).

The third movement waltz was a particular high point for sheer fun. Tchaikovsky's implied sinister undertones slipped under the radar.

Ivo Pogorelić’s return to Warsaw thirty-five years after his triumphant failure in the 1980 International Chopin Piano Competition should have been an occasion for great expectations. Sadly it was more like Hard Times.