Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Rowan Pierce

A witty, insightful production at the Coliseum fizzes with comedy and pathos. 

The Academy of Ancient Music played with such stylistic elegance, charm and sheer physical beauty that it was like hearing I Musici and Virtuosi di Roma for the first time in this repertoire in the 1950s.

Centuries can envelop a musical masterpiece in a cocoon of misconceptions and false interpretations as much they leave their mark in the form of dirt and grime on a painting’s surface.

Poor diction and lack of heft from some principals mar the composer's last great oratorio. 

Lloyd-Evans' new production of Mozart's classic might be traditional, but there's no lack of astuteness in his direction of his characters. Problems in the pit hinder an otherwise strong musical performance.

The American Dream hits Ally Pally in a vivacious performance of Britten's eclectic operetta, headlined by an ENO chorus who knock it out of the park.

Simon McBurney's production of The Magic Flute continues to delight and this revival benefits from a strong cast, led by the superb Lucy Crowe as Pamina.

A semi-staged Dido from the Academy of Ancient Music and the speculative funeral music for a queen.

Not since Monty Python has there been more fun with a chorus of lumberjacks.

Andrew Manze conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in two English choral pieces; Stephen Hough brought a fitting conclusion to his Beethoven concerto cycle as artist-in-residence. 

Handel’s opera Orlando is famous for the great mad scene at the end of Act 2. Specifically written for the celebrated castrato Senesino, it’s an emotionally powerful ten-minute monologue.

A performance of Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt performed by the Orchestra and Choir of the Age of the Enlightenment with William Christie conducting.

Sublime orchestral playing and stellar soloists don't quite make up for a lacklustre performance by the Academy's choir in Monteverdi's moving work

Nicholas McGegan leads Royal Northern Sinfonia and Samling soloists through a dramatic and thought-provoking performance of Handel's Israel in Egypt to offer an alternative look at the Easter message of hope. 

Eschewing conventions throughout, Daisy Evans' production of The Fairy Queen walks boldly out of the woods into an exciting future for opera staging.

The Academy of Ancient Music gave a finely honed account of Handel's unusual "little opera", written for the Earl of Carnavon's household musicians: a sweet pastoral offering never yet out of the repertoire. 

A child's world comes magically to life in Ravel's one-act lyric fantasy L'Enfant et les sortilèges in a beautiful production by the young singers of Samling Academy.

The laughs keep on coming in Liam Steel's glorious 1950s Albert Herring in an English village where pretensions rise as morals decay, while Nick Pritchard shines as our modest eponymous hero.

Beinahe war dieser King Arthur so rund und erhaben schön, dass die fünf Akte auch zu fünf Sternen geführt hätten.