Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Konstantin Wolff

La Scintilla and the Zürcher Sing-Akademie performs Bach at the KKL hall in Lucerne.

Polished, deft and attentive, Les Arts Florissants deliver in concert the same slickness that we have come to expect from their impressive array of recordings, but lack vital energy.

William Christie and his ensemble Les Arts Florissants (or The blooming arts – a reference to an opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier) visited the Hungarian capital to perform Handel’s Messiah in the exceptional acoustics of the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall. 

Nearly three years after a memorable production of Les Indes Galantes, the Théâtre du Capitole reconnects with the master of the Treatise on harmony via Castor et Pollux, originally premièred by the Académie Royale in 1737.

Sasha Waltz’s new production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo saw a fusion of sound and movement at the Muziektheater Amsterdam, with dancers and singers twining together almost indistinguishably.

Holland Festival revives Pierre Audi’s 2012 production of Handel’s Orlando. Conducted by baroque specialist René Jacobs and featuring an strong cast, it is a great occasion to witness American countertenor Bejun Mehta in what has become, over the past decade, his signature role.

On Good Friday, Cappella Amsterdam, conducted by Daniel Reuss, gave a beautifully refined rendition of Bach's St John Passion at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and the riveting Evangelist of Anders Dahlin.

In Pierre Audi’s new production of Handel’s Orlando, currently running at La Monnaie in Brussels (until 12 May, and thereafter available free online on their website for three weeks), the knight Orlando is portrayed as a modern-day fireman who in his fascination with fire has become an arsonist – “pyromane” as Audi explains in the programme.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt is the elder statesman of the historical performance movement and one of the pillars of Vienna’s musical scene.

La meticulosa dirección de García Alarcón y la cuidada propuesta de Sasha Waltz redundan en un espectáculo en el que la centralidad de la música se ve reforzada por una coreografía que construye el espacio y las relaciones entre personajes.

Une soirée haute en couleurs portées par des interprètes de grand talent pour fêter Noël.

Aurait-on mieux pu entamer cette année 2017 qui marque le 450ème anniversaire de la naissance de Monteverdi que par cette merveilleuse exécution de ce deuxième opéra (et premier chef-d’oeuvre) de l’histoire de la musique au Palais des Beaux-Arts ?