Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews

With all the right ingredients – acte blanc, love intrigue, dramatic death – La Bayadère is a classic Russian ballet.

With his composer’s ear for detail, Pintscher also led a colorful performance of Bartók’s The Wooden Prince.

Sir Frederick Ashton's quintessentially English ballet returns, dressed in pastel shades with knockabout fun everywhere.

Powerful and evocative imagery, both literal and implied, lingered on beyond the drop of the curtain.

Susanna Mälkki’s choppy, uneven Mahler 5, preceded by a Steve Reich world première. 

Excellent performances of Scelsi's Uaxuctum and John Luther Adams' prescient Become Ocean were by accompanied by an impressive, but ultimately distracting audiovisual display.

Viotti will return to La Scala to conduct Gounod's Roméo et Juliette in 2020. The programme this time round gave an indication of some of the positive qualities to expect. It also warned of some potential pitfalls.

From chic Ravel to Mussorgsky's more rugged Pictures at an Exhibition, Inon Barnatan's International Piano Series debut took listeners on a tour of the piano's colours. 

Top tenors Lawrence Brownlee and Michael Spyres dared to duel at the Concertgebouw. Both emerged victorious, and not just because of the volley of sensational top notes.

The music, a combination of Italian-sounding melodies, German instrumentation and Hugarian dotted rhythms, was remarkably captivating.

Neither the conductor, Lionel Bringuier, nor the soloist, Valerij Sokolov, bring much intensity of expression in this RPO concert to a pair of 20th-century Russian masterworks.

Birmingham Royal Ballet presents a double bill subtitled ‘Two ballets fuelled by power and politics’ as part of David Bintley’s last season as director. 

A programme of late Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert explores music at the limits.

This concert at Usher Hall delivered extraordinary playing, in repertoire ranging from Beethoven to Bernstein and Sibelius.

Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic's performance of Mahler's “Resurrection” Symphony properly revealed the tensions between intensity and stillness, resistance and fragility. 

Pierangelo Valtinoni’s take on the classic story is a charming introduction to opera for children. 

Gergiev and Abduraimov create magic in a dazzling Rachmaninov Rhapsody.

The Rococo Variations show Pyotr Ilyich at his most beguiling and Gerhardt’s cello made the Andante sostenuto variation sing from every bar.

Carè, Katzarava and Treichl give committed performances in a reprise of Cavanagh’s production.

Who knew that children were subject to shoe fetishes?

Early works by Schoenberg and Webern filled out an austere program.

A trio of Soviet composers provided thrills and spills in Liverpool, under popular Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko.

The Sixteen's Choral Pilrimage dissolves the boundaries between old and new, sacred and profane with striking performances of music by Cornysh and Britten. 

Intimacy mixes with grandeur in Beethoven playing of rare authority in Berlin.

A star cast and red-hot conducting make for a memorable night at the Barbican.

Kaija Saariaho's delightful but unchallenging fourth opera comes to Madrid with the same crew of the world première and Davone Tines, Philippe Jaroussky and Nora Kimball-Mentzos in the leading roles

Simone Lamsma gave an intense, exciting and witty performance of Bartók's love song with the Belgrade Philharmonic and Daniel Raiskin, plus Beethoven, Weber and Strauss.

A great close to Maher's Second Symphony in Boston, paired with an earthbound curtain raiser. 

By using Schumann’s Novelletten to draw a broad dramaturgical bow over the whole evening, Martin Helmchen stands on his own as a bold and highly creative pianist.

In this new distillation of The Ring, more is less.

Kochanovsky andthe NSO gave a masterful rendition of Shostakovich's Symphony no. 7 while cellist Harwood delighted in Kabalevsky's Cello concerto no. 1 

This afternoon Vassily Sinaisky was in charge of the CBSO for a matinee performance which began with Wagner’s overture, ended with a Sibelius symphony and had siphoned between them an ever-popular piano concerto by Mozart.

The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder bring details and affection to Strauss' Don Quixote and Elgar's second symphony.

Vitality and contrast characterised Jordan's memorable performance of a colourful and passionate Slavic programme

Tugan Sokhiev's debut with the New York Philharmonic was not an unqualified success. 

It’s the sprig of nightshade on a blood-red confection.

Each of the works are particularly radiant in themselves, but made even more so as they were presented here.

Here was singing and playing to live long in the memory.

Perhaps feeling that the drama and emotion of the Ring Cycle wasn't enough for one year, Antonio Pappano assembled a strong quartet and deployed the ROH's forces in a powerful, moving performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem.

English Touring Opera's triple bill of early Baroque miniatures promised an intruiging evening but failed up to expectations. 

Mozart's final three symphonies make for a brilliant opening to the Australian Chamber Orchestra's London residency. 

The cast, sets, costumes and direction of Muhly's opera Marnie impress, but the music somehow falls short of expectations.

Mercadante's score proves to be something of a missing link between bel canto and early Verdi. 

A rare concerto and a familiar choral work anchor a Virginia Symphony concert that celebrates the French musical spirit.

A strong new Traviata from Washington National Opera with the welcome house debut of Venera Gimadieva as a fabulous Violetta.

La Fenice presents Rossini’s monumental farewell to Italy and to 18th-century tradition in Ligorio’s elegant new production with a superb cast.

Powerful and impressive playing from the LSO and Jaime Martín in a Spanish-themed first half (also featuring Christian Tetzlaff), with a more nuanced array of Stravinskian colour in the second half.

Sydney Dance Company's contrasting double bill revisits Rafael Bonachela's elegantly reflective Frame of Mind and premieres Antony Hamilton's bemusing and rave-inspired Forever & Ever.

The unlikely pairing of jazz and Baroque makes complete sense under the baton of Sam Poppleton. 

British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason gave the impression that he had been playing the cello since he was in the womb