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The London Philharmonic welcomes back its Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski for a typically challenging programme of dark Russian and Ukrainian scores.

Tobias Kratzer's prelude to this new Ring cycle exceeds all expectations and scores a musical-theatrical success.

Charles Edwards' ambitious production is well served by a strong cast as Grange Park Opera opens its season in the Theatre in the Woods. 

After a rare treat to hear Tippett's commemoration of King Charles' birth and Alina Ibragimova's Mendelssohn, the crowning achievement of this concert is Edward Gardner's majestic reading of Janáček's Glagolitic Mass.

The Met unveils Simon Stone’s new production is set in a working class American town in decline... an interesting concept that ultimately fails to overcome its own cluttered ideas.

Whether one considers Messiah to be really appropriate for Christmas, it always a welcome gift for the Handel aficionado, and this performance from Rotterdam, while suffering some unfortunate cuts, is an otherwise solid musical offering.

Breastplates are back in vogue, but comedy horses and cheap production values undermine the first chapter in English National Opera's new Ring cycle. 

The Philharmonia and Garsington Chorus deliver great performances, as do Natalia Tanasii and Fleur Barron as the two Larina sisters.

After Bach and Brett Dean, the LPO gave Stravinsky’s Pulcinella a ride in their musical Rolls-Royce... and it gleamed.

Glyndebourne welcome audiences back into the house with a one hour Offenbach operetta whose comedy and plot lines are thin but which still delights.

A wide-ranging programme from the shape-shifting ensemble at Wigmore Hall explores love in its many guises. 

A title role performance full of depth from Terfel and a barnstorming comic interlude from Tomlinson provide some great moments, but much of this Boris fails to rise above the ordinary.

The culmination of Thomas Ades' Beethoven cycle with the Britten Sinfonia channels Beethoven's atavistic energies. 

Andris Nelsons leads a moving performance of Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Festival Chorus. 

The director's world-renowned 1991 conception of Benjamin Britten's 1960 operaA Midsummer Night's Dream finally makes it to America. 

Berlioz was well served in a performance that rose to heights of inspiring dignity and devotional beauty.

Toby Spence, Matthew Rose and Andrew Watts shine in a fluent semi-staging at the Royal Festival Hall.

The audience for The Met's first performance of La fanciulla del West this season arrived loaded for bear. Not only were they disappointed that Jonas Kaufmann was not singing (he's slated for shows starting 17th October), but their disappointment was heightened by the fact that tenor Yusif Eyvazov was singing.

A debuting conductor, two new singers, and a fine ensemble of singers bring unexpected joy to the Met's traditional La bohème with fresh and youthful energy.

Anja Harteros takes a while to hit her stride in a Don Carlo that doesn't quite gel.

A terrific cast in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of La bohème... “near the top of a lifetime of Bohèmes” for our reviewer. 

Robert Hayward was unafraid to 'go ugly' when need be in Jurowski's symphonically executed concert performance. 

Ryan Wigglesworth conducts a Huw Watkins première and a grand-scale account of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

The winter revival of the Met’s opening night Norma brought a new conductor and new stars in the main two female roles.

An energetic Haydn Seasons for the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir and Orchestra.

Sondra Radvanovsky scores a rousing success in the taxing title role of Bellini's masterpiece in New York.

A sensational Die Walküre from Sir Andrew Davis and the RSNO at the Edinburgh Festival that will be talked about for years.

English National Opera join with the BBC Singers to make Royal Festival Hall debut.

Netia Jones' new production taps into Britten's silvery underworld in a staging dominated by video wizardry which is hypnotically beautiful, but comes at a price.

Renée Fleming has decided the time is right to bow out gracefully from the operatic stage, choosing her signature role to bid the fondest of farewells to London.

Don Giovanni is an opera which has as its title character a man who is an unrepentant womaniser, who ultimately receives his just reward in one of the most famous scenes in opera where he is consumed into the fires of hell.

Simon Keenlyside returned to the Met after absence and led a delightful cast of Don Giovanni at the Met.

An opportunity for the human voice to shine in works by Mahler and Mozart, performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov, with an opening work by Gérard Grisey.

“Out of this wood do not desire to go!” Tytania orders Bottom. Glyndebourne's revival of Peter Hall's classic production of A Midsummer Night's Dream is eerily enchanting, weaving its spell right from the queasy double bass glissandos, which slither into Britten's score.

English National Opera's new Tristan is at its best when responding to Anish Kapoor's stunning stage sculptures.

A new cast arrives for Katie Mitchell's gothic Lucia di Lammermoor – and, despite caveats about the staging, deliver some excellent performances. 

With clear direction and well-executed hits (such as the lush trio from the end of the third act), the show will appeal to those with nostalgia for the production and wish to escape the biting cold with the sound of strings warmed by horns.

The Rape of Lucretia may be something of a problem piece, but Fiona Shaw's production is an excellent piece of ensemble theatre set around some very fine performances of music of rare beauty.

Glyndebourne's season opener features an outstanding singing performance by baritone Igor Golovatenko, leading a strong vocal cast. However, staging and orchestral performance leave much to be desired.

The English Concert play beautifully, the chorus is in superb voice, but a disjointed cast of unconvincing singers mean Hercules never reaches heroic heights.

James Levine led a solid and at times excellent performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Otto Schenk's traditional production that somehow lacked sparkle and excitement.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the Monteverdi Choir in a late night performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis at the BBC Proms.

An imaginative and wonderfully performed programme of ecclesiastical works wrought in peril, alienation and exile.

Richard Egarr leads the Academy of Ancient Music and a stellar team of vocal soloists in an unapologetically lush and dramatic St Matthew Passion.

A triumphant Elijah as Edward Gardner conducts the Blackheath Halls Chorus and Orchestra, joined by Matthew Rose, Ailish Tynan, Robert Murray and Louise Winter and young singers from Trinity Laban.

Southbank Centre's The Rest is Noise festival came to an end with John Adams' oratorio El Niño, composed in 2000. The London Philharmonic Orchestra suited the piece well, and this was a performance to cherish.

Those who feel that country house opera is in some way not the real thing, just an excuse to dress up and picnic on manicured lawns, should hie to Garsington’s new Die Entführung aus dem Serail with all speed.

Southbank Centre’s The Rest is Noise festival has a number of strands of thought permeating its concerts. It explores the effects of war, sex and sexuality, politics, and race on some of the 20th century’s most important musical output.

According to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, “Not all orchestras are the same”. I’m not sure who doubts this rather obvious statement; but I’m certain I’m not alone in thinking the OAE to be a unique ensemble, and not just for the eccentricity of its name.