Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Stephen Layton

Stephen Layton conducts Haydn and Handel, and is joined by soprano Sara Macliver for Bach and Mozart for a joyful evening. 

A star-studded group of soloists and a wonderful choir make for an interesting, if not always convincing, interpretation of Bach's joyous oratorio. 

Singapore Symphony Children's and Youth Choirs are led by Stephen Layton in music by Britten, Rautavaara and Vivaldi, heralding a blessed Christmas season.

The Hallé orchestra and choir pack out Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall for a Messiah which both delights and disappoints. 

Whether surrounded by lanterns and weapons, or musicians and fellow congregation members, one is deeply involved in this work.

A timely performance of Faure's Requiem in Singapore, coinciding with the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

A lithe and engaging performance of Handel's festive regular from Polyphony and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

English imports and local forces made for a memorable St John Passion in Hobart this Easter week.

Stephen Layton returns to Auckland to continue his series of Bach's choral masterpieces with the APO. 

...it was the Bach pieces that were the undoubted highlights, particularly the radiant contribution of Sara Macliver.

In a diverse programme consisting of Haydn and Pärt, Stephen Layton impressed with his choir Polyphony, while the Britten Sinfonia performed a fine rendition of Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony. 

As Autumn sets in, the City of London Sinfonia give us a final taste of Midsummer in a charming and diverse concert. 

Stephen Layton leads the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in a thrillingly dramatic account of Bach's masterpiece. 

The Holst Singers perform a rich programme of Russian music at Temple Church.

Polyphony live up to their reputation, performing Bach's St John Passion with intensity and dynamism, in a performance only marred by some routine orchestral playing. 

Living in the city is alternately an experience of exhilarating interconnectedness and one of unbearable loneliness. On the good days, you share a sympathetic smile with your fellow commuters on a packed Tube train, you trade easy banter with the cashier at the Sainsbury’s checkout, and you feed off the buzz of the crowd as you head out for a night in Shoreditch.

In spite of the fact that a Handel oratorio, however renowned, provides limited opportunities for staging, this production of Joshua, directed by Charles Edwards, is a largely successful exercise in the art of the possible.

Bach’s Passion according to St John the Evangelist is not an easy work. Whilst saying I am a “fan” of Bach is one of the greatest understatements possible, this Passion is nonetheless an intense work for any concert-goer (seasoned or amateur) including myself. Over two hours in length, it is a test on both the audience and, quite obviously, the performers.

The Mass in B minor was completed in 1749, the year before Bach’s death. Much of the work consists of music Bach composed much earlier in his life (the Kyrie and Gloria from one of the Lutheran Masses). The sections he added latter were among the last things he wrote before he died.

They are sadly few in number, but some things in this St. John Passion I can report in mildly positive terms would include Stephen Layton’s hand-selected choir Polyphony, whose members dealt with Bach’s demanding vocal lines capably and sang in clear, idiomatic German; bass-baritone Neal Davies (a perfectly respectable if not overly engaging Christ); and Derek Welton’s robustly s

Pour la dernière soirée du Spitalfields Music Summer Festival, programme Haydn/J.C. Bach/Mozart/Haendel à Shoreditch Church, par le City of London Sinfonia et le chœur Polyphony dirigés par Stephen Layton : une clôture de festival réussie.