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A major premiere from Romania and a Russian classic that’s forever new in a concert that struck out with a spirit of adventure at the Barbican.

Soprano Verónica Cangemi shines in a variety of moods as Handel heroines, with the added attraction of Celine Pasche's virtuoso recorder playing, accompanied by Andrea Marcon.

Maurice Steger makes his debut with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in a concert of Baroque favourites. 

The Venice Baroque Orchestra offers a fast-paced, intense array of 18th-century selections in New York City.

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. 

Maurice Steger brought this essential but under-represented instrument from Renaissance and Baroque chamber and ensumble music to a mainstream concert hall. 

Richard Tognetti brings Baroque masterworks to Melbourne along with the world premiere of Kats-Chernin's new work for strings, Singing Trees.

London: a truly European city, a magnet for talented musicians, was brought alive by the European Union Baroque Orchestra at the Bolzano Festival in Italy.

Bach: Sacred and Secular became the focus for a creative partnership between Bach scholar John Butt and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

In Montreal Richard Turp discovers a modern-day Pied Piper of Hamelin, Maurice Steger in music of 18th century Naples accompanied by Les Violons du Roy 

The Concertgebouw has been celebrating its 125th anniversary throughout 2013. On the darkest, rainiest Sunday evening in months, the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam defied the oncoming winter with a joyous, exuberant performance, one of a series of special celebratory concerts for this jubilee year.

The current state of contemporary classical composition is a bit muddled. There are a wide variety of styles and approaches out there, and no consensus on where the cutting edge is to be found. Ensembles dedicated to performing new music must find a way to make sense of it all.

How does one approach performing a piece as ubiquitous and overexposed as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (particularly here in New Zealand, where various movements have haunted us through the National Bank television advertisements for years now)? The Auckland Chamber Orchestra, with musical director Peter Scholes, decided in this case to recast Vivaldi’s concertos as works for wind and orchestra with Sch

It was a surprising afternoon of world premières at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw this weekend. With promises of young talent, such as the rising Dutch recorder player Erik Bosgraaf, and daring new compositions by Peter Adriaansz and Louis Andriessen, the event shed some light on the state of modern music today.

The music spoke for itself the other day in Amsterdam, as the truly communicative and inspiring Helsinki Baroque Orchestra showed its strength on the Concertgebouw stage.

Throughout the preliminary rounds of BBC Young Musician 2012, the judges have stressed that the emphasis is on musicianship, on looking for that extra spark that makes every performance really special, but also on the importance of enjoying music.

“In order to play dance pieces correctly, you must learn to dance it.” Thus spoke my recorder teacher this past Friday. A tall order, considering that Baroque dance has become a specialized and rarely-performed art inaccessible to most people.

James Waters, Director of Classical Music at Horsecross, explained that he had been waiting for two years to welcome the Bach Collegium of Japan to Perth Concert Hall, with its especially good acoustic for baroque music.

Orpheus and Euridice – A timeless Greek myth forever ingrained into the classical music repertoire. Since the very beginnings of operatic history, this heartbreaking and beautiful tale has endured numerous adaptions.

Some of the instruments that the members of Tafelmusik play on may sometimes be considered the dinosaurs of the string-instrument family. Nevertheless, the members of this internationally lauded Baroque orchestra have a knack for delivering fresh and lively performances, presenting the Baroque and Classical repertoire in such an invigorating way that it feels as current as a Justin Bieber hit.

To accompany the exhibition “The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini,” the early music ensemble TENET held court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a lovely concert of musical portraits from the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Compared to the venue for this concert, the eighteenth century Baroque music in the programme is relatively modern. Beverley Minster was built between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. Sitting in the ancient Quire where generations of musicians have sat before, listening to the Historically Informed Performance, the audience was transported into the world of the past.

For the few of us who chose not to spend the warm afternoon picnicking in the park, instead we enjoyed the cool art deco interior of Cardiff’s Temple of Peace while watching the sunlight streaming in through the full-length windows. The Welsh Sinfonia’s light programme was framed by two Classical symphonies and the event was preceded by free tea and cake.

For the late night prom on Monday, the French early music group Ensemble Matheus led by the flamboyant violinist/director Jean-Christophe Spinosi brought an entertaining and well-juxtaposed programme of baroque arias and concertos starring French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux.

Blockflötensolistin Dorothee Oberlinger und die Akamus Berlin präsentierten sich beim Festival als vertraute, gleichsam von inspirierender Umsetzung befähigte Schicksalsgemeinschaft.

Das Blockflötenensemble inspirierte und beeindruckte in Utrecht mit einer Führung durch Sevillas Kathedrale.

Mit einem wahren Piazza-und-Palazzo-Feuerwerk für Blockflöte und Orchester brannte sich diese Rundreise durch Europa und speziell Italien in die Erinnerung ein.

Bei diesem Konzert kamen grandiose Künstler und Enthusiasten zusammen – mit dem Beweis universalgelehrter Fähigkeit an der Blockflöte sowie dem relexionsbespielten Faszinosum Instrument und Renaissance.

Das Ensemble Odyssee bot insgesamt ein kultiviertes Gespräch, das ich auf Dauerschleife stellen könnte. Wie eine richtig gute Freundschaft.

Die beiden Musiker zementierten mit diesem Digitalkonzert meinen Wunsch, mit Telemanns Sonaten live durch die Welt zu touren.

So wie das Erscheinungsjahr dieses gefeierten Repertoires war auch größtenteils die Aufführung des Ensembles – sehr gut.

Blockflöte und Countertenor der Extraklasse lassen Gemüt und Ästhetik der neapolitanischen Schule in Herz und Gedächtnis verfangen.

Dentro del Ciclo Universo Barroco del CNDM, se presentó el Ensemble 1700 liderado por la flautista Dorothee Oberlinger, que ofreció un virtuoso concierto con un programa inspirado en la noche.

Wirkte das Ensemble der Sonatori manchmal etwas zu verschlafen, wirbelte sich Dorothee Oberlinger lustvoll durch die musikalische Nacht.

Pour sa 70e édition, le Festival de Menton s'est ouvert sur la thématique des éléments. À la tête du Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall a proposé une interprétation riche et incarnée.

Fink, flink, furios – mit diesem Programm von Dorothee Oberlinger und Dmitry Sinkovsky wird barocke Utopie kurzweilig spaßige Realität.

Wenn Telemann der launemachende König der Konzerte ist, dann ist Dorothee Oberlinger seine Königin. Ein Leben ohne Instrument und Komponist ist für sie genauso unmöglich wie ein Telemann-Festival ohne Oberlinger.

Colpron évoque le raffinement sentimental, la droiture, l’exactitude ; la chaleur ne manque pas chez lui, mais elle est mesurée.

Das Ensemble Resonanz beendet seine Saison mit zwei Brandenburgischen Konzerten von Johann Sebastian Bach und Werken von Toshio Hosokawa.

Jadis un projet dont les inspirateurs se demandaient s’ils réussiraient à toucher un large public, la Bach Académie est aujourd’hui un événement annuel dans le calendrier de concerts en Belgique. Le Collegium Vocale a refermé cette Bach Académie avec une série de cantates d’une qualité évidente.

Gli Angeli Genève ont illuminé les voûtes de la Cathédrale de Genève d’un Thomas Tallis radieux quoi qu’un brin soporifique, servi par un plateau de solistes assez inégal malheureusement. 

Wilde Triller, Tremoli, provokant lange Vorhalte, eingeschobene Läufe, extreme Staccati bis hin zu perkussivem An- und Überblasen — Maurice Steger begeistert mit gewohnter Virtuosität.

Sabine Devieilhe… Ce nom vous dit quelque chose ? Pas étonnant. En 2013, la soprano colorature a reçu la Victoire de la Musique « Révélation Artiste Lyrique »; peu après, son album Le Grand théâtre de l’Amour (consacré à Rameau) était fait Diapason d’Or.