Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | BBC Symphony Orchestra

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. 

Semyon Bychkov turned in a magisterial account of Mussorgsky's rugged score, aided and abetted by some strong vocal performances.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by James Gaffigan, with two stellar soprano soloists, deliver a maritime-themed programme of pieces by Korngold, Anders Hillborg and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Sir Andrew Davis led the BBC SO in a recreation of Sir Malcolm Sargent's 500th Prom, a lengthy programme that failed to inspire.

An inspired piece of programming illustrates the continuities in angst-filled works from the Baroque, Romantic and contemporary eras.

Mass hysteria, Schiller’s Ode to Joy and Wild Nights – a heady mix for this year’s opening night of the BBC Proms from Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Sakari Oramo pushes the BBC Symphony Orchestra to breaking point at Symphony Hall

An account of The Beatitudes that will do much to reassess this neglected work was coupled with a polished “Enigma”.

A Total Immersion day exploring the works of Edgar Varèse at the Barbican. 

At the Barbican last night, Gerald Finley, John Adams and the BBC Symphony Orchestra combined to deliver the heaviest operatic punch I’ve been subjected to all year.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus grow in stature through an evening which provides a good introduction to the virtues of Dvořák’s seldom-played large scale choral work.

In this concert, conducted by Simone Young, featuring works by Hungarians, Bartók and Eötvös,  the colour and virtuosity of both pieces was presented with an extra tingle factor.

Put Sakari Oramo in front of the BBCSO and invariably something magical happens. This concert included rare repertoire from two of Oramo's favourite Scandinavian composers. 

Lothar Koenigs conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra in some highly horizontal-oriented Bruckner and the UK première of a genial piano concerto from Wolfgang Rihm with soloist Nicolas Hodges

A dramatic new work from Nicola LeFanu with soprano Rachel Nicholls and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov, together with a fine account of Schreker's Nachtstück.

To celebrate Philip Glass’s 80th birthday the BBC honoured him with one their invaluable Total Immersion days, of which this concert with the BBCSO conducted by Marin Alsop was the climax.

Despite the burbling streams with which Smetana's Vltava trickles into life, this was no pastoral stroll on the gentle slopes of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra brought together the music of two very different composers forced into American exile by the Third Reich.

The silence of the Cenotaph was swept away by the greatest howl of anguish in music.

“Beloved Friend” is the term Tchaikovsky used to address Nadezhda in his letters, and it is the title Semyon Bychkov has given to his Tchaikovsky series, of which this concert with the BBCSO closed the Barbican leg.

Semyon Bychkov brought out the best in the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the latest concert of his Tchaikovsky project.

In the glut of Shakespeare400 celebrations, the BBCSO and Sakari Oramo plumped for one of the more obscure works, based on one of the less popular plays.

Oramo and the BBCSO were dynamic in the UK première of Brett Dean's thought-provoking suite and provided a solid account of Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben.

The 2016 Proms come to a riotous close at the Royal Albert Hall.

This was one of those concert programmes that you will only find at the Proms – a richly varied group of works by Bayan Northcott, Mozart and Zemlinsky.

An ambitious new Austrian symphony is dwarfed by the proven might of Wagner and Strauss in the BBC Symphony Orchestra's latest Prom.

A belated touch of demonic fire was a welcome ingredient to last night's Prom with a compelling interpretation of Prokofiev's Third Symphony, based on material from his opera The Fiery Angel.

Karita Mattila produces a star turn in the title role, but a pure concert staging does little to bring out the cleverness of the libretto of Janáček’s Makropulos Case.

An enterprising programme featuring a rare Haydn symphony, a new work by Charlotte Bray and Mahler 5, played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo and with Guy Johnston as cello soloist.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo glistened and shimmered in Dutilleux and presented a 'no holds barred' Beethoven's Fifth while Håkan Hardenberger provided zing and reflection in HK Gruber.

Brahms's Second Piano Concerto acts as the enlightening partner to Dutch avant-garde composer Reinbert de Leeuw's first symphonic work in 40 years, under the baton of Oliver Knussen.

Prom 22 was a surreal evening of music, centered around the UK première of Auerbach’s The Infant Minstrel and His Peculiar Menagerie.

A varied concert of new music by Anthony Payne, Max Bruch's 1st Violin Concerto with Ray Chen, a Tchaikovsky rarity and a rousing early work by Vaughan Williams

A lush programme of Fauré, Stravinsky, and Poulenc is let down by Minkowski's erratic conducting, but is partially redeemed by two of France's fastest rising singers.

After a stirring Marseillaise, a sombre mood hung over the first half of this Proms season opener, with Sol Gabetta's lyrical, intimate Elgar. 

In its seventh visit to Prague Spring, the orchestra shows affection for the old but more versatility with new music

Joseph Phibbs’s Partita makes a strong impression in its première at the Barbican. 

The BBC’s biennial Young Musician competition reached its thrilling climax in an absorbing, nail-biting and inspirational final concert at London’s Barbican yesterday afternoon.

A youthful Bellini opera able to stand on its own two feet? Perhaps not, as Adelson e Salvini gets the Opera Rara treatment. 

Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra negotiate a challenging first half with works by Bax and Dean, followed by a superb rendering of Elgar's first symphony

A programme of personal choices curated by George Benjamin in collaboration with Oliver Knussen – that didn’t quite hang together but with two UK  premières it was a fascinating evening. 

In a programme of mostly tasty morsels, Fabien Gabel and the BBCSO found a freshness and rhythmic vitality that made for a most enjoyable evening.

The coda to Juliet's "Convoi funèbre" crystallised all that was exceptional about this performance of Berlioz's symphonie dramatique.

This all-English programme artfully combined Butterworth, Elgar and Anna Clyne – three composers a century apart yet tied together by poetic association.

Detlev Glanert's homage to Johannes Brahms as a curtain-raiser to Paul Watkins' performance of Haydn's C major cello concerto and a welcome anticipation of Brahms' first symphony conducted by Semyon Bychkov.

In spite of the not insignificant problems, Opera Rara are utterly convincing that Leoncavallo's Zazà is a work that should be seen and heard more often.

Flags, balloons and musical revelry bring the BBC Proms season to a close. 

How to compare Nielsen and Ives? Possible similarities aside, however, the impact of their work is, on the whole, wildly contrasting.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra, escaping Proms duty, perform the second of two concerts at Lahti's Sibelius Festival. 

After a lacklustre trio of concerts traversing the seven symphonies, Sibelius’ 150th anniversary Proms celebrations peaked with a gripping encounter with Kullervo.