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

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

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

With a smaller programme and a humbler premise, the stars of the show – those young, immensely talented performers – could have shone even brighter

Polished but ultimately tepid performances that kept the emotional temperature under wraps despite some fine individual playing and singing.

Why don’t brass ensembles have a regular presence in the classical concert scene, in comparison to string ensembles or at least woodwind ensembles? 

The audience responded as if they were hearing the Symphony for the first time. They were overwhelmed and let the musicians know it. Good start to the home stand.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet shines in Belfast, playing Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra was on tip-top form, with the buoyant Daniele Rustioni and mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital conjuring up a fresco of genuine Mediterranean delights.

Storm Large’s version of The Seven Deadly Sins provides a modern update of Weill and Brecht’s take-down of capitalism, misogyny and exploitation.

Alexandre Bloch and Royal Northern Sinfonia throw down a challenge to any listener who thinks that Brahms is comfortable and easy with a radical reading of his Fourth Symphony.

Stéphane Denève leads The Philadelphia Orchestra through transcendent Strauss and apocalyptic Ravel.

A triumphant night for the CBSO, Harish Shankar and Boris Giltburg, with the mighty Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” and an inspired performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto no. 3.

Breezy Ravel from Steven Osborne and a clear warning about the dangers of drug-taking from the BBCSSO at Sage Gateshead.

Trottmann used profile, posture and facial expression to bring each song to life. 

Elīna Garanča brings subtle sonorities to an otherwise bravura and boisterous concert by Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.

The Nash Ensemble exploited its versatility in a wide-ranging and enjoyable programme of French chamber music and song featuring soprano Rebecca Evans.

A charming rendition of Nielsen's Aladdin Suite and Ravel’s Piano Concerto made up the first half while Martín gave us a romantic rendition of Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony.

A superb concert from the London Philharmonic Orchestra under an inspirational Vasily Petrenko who brought vivid colours to two ballet scores straddling the Great War, and an excusite rendtion of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. 

Understated mastery in Peter Donohoe’s recital of Scriabin, Ravel, Schumann, Mozart and Schubert in Hall One Sage Gateshead.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet was the soloist for a stylish account of Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the left hand, and the complete music for Daphnis et Chloé filled out the program.

Lionel Bringuier and the LSO show off a dazzling palette of colours in works by Brahms, Dutilleux, and Ravel

Impressive Ravel from Benedetto Lupo, with pleasing Debussy and Delius, and a strong performance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring from Juanjo Mena and the LPO.

Maurice Ravel opened his 1928 tour of the United States conducting a series of concerts with the Boston Symphony featuring his own music.

Made up of aspiring professional dancers from eight different nations, the Junior Ballett Zürich performs a programme of internationally renowned choreographers every two years.

Houston Symphony’s program starring John Corigliano’s Conjurer: Concerto for Percussionist and String Orchestra and Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé crept through mists.

How vital is a conductor? At Paris' Salle des concerts – the Philharmonie's second hall – Les Dissonances provided answers. 

In Milwaukee, Fabien Gabel pairs a Classical concerto with brilliant orchestral showpieces by Bernstein, Ravel and Florent Schmitt.

Grimaud married incredible precision and rigour with moving sensitivity and ease. She led the listener clearly through the score without dropping a detail, but never gave the feeling that she was micro-managing.

A programme in which a great orchestra finds several 'leaders', as well as a fine first violin.

The second half was all about Ravel and Adrian Brendel.

On the last leg of their first international tour, the Orchestre Métropolitain and Yannick Nézet-Séguin fully embraced Elgar after a francophone first half of Berlioz and Saint-Saëns. 

Rafael Payare contrasts a stentorian Brahms Symphony 4 with colorful French scores, including a scintillating Shéhérazade.

Dutoit, Lugansky and the HK Phil perform at their finest in famous French and Russian repertoire.

An enjoyable concert of Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Ravel's Piano concerto for the Left Hand and Nielsen's Symphony no. 5 by the Mexican duo Carlos Prieto and Jorge Osorio. 

Guest conductor Charles Dutoit returned to Los Angeles for a program devoted to one of the composers he is most closely associated with. 

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra are at a distance from performing at their usual top form in their returning concert in Hong Kong.

An enterprising programme combined a striking WWI commemoration from Mark-Anthony Turnage with sumptuous ballet suites from Prokofiev and Ravel, with Nikolaj Znaider rhapsodic in Bruch.

Cedric Tiberghien brought Prokofiev's surreal Visions Fugitives and Mussorgsky's monumental Pictures at an Exhibition to life in a concert rich in musical colour, expression and vivid imagination.

Like Sibelius, Florent Schmitt was another composer of great longevity. This concert saw an opportunity to hear his Symphony No. 2 paired with Sibelius' Symphony No. 3, with two piano pieces by Ravel and Franck in the middle.

There is some good dancing in Benjamin Millepied's I Felt the Earth Move but it missed the mark as far as emotional content is concerned.

After a nine-year absence, Martha Argerich returned to Carnegie Hall with stunning Prokofiev with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Ludovic Morlot makes a grand return to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a program of 20th-century works, highlighted by a masterful performance of Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, with soloist Ray Chen. 

Listening to Stravinsky, Ravel and Dvořák in one evening is a treat, but watching the Pavel Haas Quartet playing them is delicious. 

The violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja's endless curiosity was on display at a recital of duos with cellist Jay Campbell at the Park Avenue Armory. 

Still only in its second year, the London Piano Festival has already established itself as a major player in the capital’s music scene.

Emmanuel Pahud shows his fluting chops in a program accompanied by the popular and celebrated Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Few other pianists have Argerich’s naturalness, her ability to epitomize the essence of music rather than interpret it. 

The opening of the Duparc rippled diaphanously in Martineau's hands as the seductive but pure silver of Karg's voice.

Juho Pohjonen tackles the Prokofiev First Piano Concerto with real aplomb, but big thrills also come from a "French trio" of compositions by Debussy, Ravel and Florent Schmitt.

As a composer, what do you do when you are commissioned a full-length orchestral work to commemorate the anniversary of a renowned concert hall? Do you try to write something celebratory? Not in Mark-Anthony Turnage's case.