Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Paul Watkins

Two works of personal victory, written at virtually the same point in history and against a backdrop of suffering, made up this very successful concert conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. 

Three English composers receive fine performances from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Bright and energetic Walton and a promising, highly lyrical Concerto from Watkins, followed by taut Webern and commanding Brahms from Søndergård and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

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.

The Nash Ensemble toasted its golden anniversary with a selection of golden French repertoire – some of it more familiar in orchestral form – at its Wigmore Hall gala.

Cellist Louisa Tuck and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, with guest conductor Paul Watkins, deliver a lyrical and coherent interpretation of Britten's complex Cello Symphony.

When a programme is well put together and nicely themed, it is quite easy to turn one’s attention away from the sound of music, and onto the history of music. PCM 4 at Cadogan Hall was breezily introduced by the BBC compere as a programme marking Britten’s centenary, exploring his relationship with his peers, and celebrating his friend Lutoslawski. Yes, it did all that.

Thankfully, when it comes to classical music, programmes around the theme of death tend to make highly energetic evenings. The eighth Prom of this year was no exception, as Thomas Adès led the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the world première of his new work Totentanz, but not after performances of two similarly themed works: Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem and Lutoslawski’s Cello Concerto.

Tonight’s concert with the Emerson String Quartet at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival was a truly special event. After 34 years, the world famous, multiple Grammy-winning quartet has made its first personnel change. Tonight marked their very first concert with their new cellist Paul Watkins.

The Nash Ensembles' "Echoes of Romanticism" series at the Wigmore Hall, of which this concert was a part, is not really an exploration of romanticism as such, but rather a charting of the rise and fall of Teutonic music between Mozart and Schoenberg.

It sounds almost like heresy to describe a Beethoven composition as “light”, but it would be appropriate for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert on Saturday. His Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68, Pastoral, was like soufflé to the crème brûlée of Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture.