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Enhanced by bells, Ex Cathedra Jeffrey Skidmore give a low-key but highly dramatic performance of Rachmaninov’s Vespers in Birmingham Town Hall

Shostakovich's mighty piano cycle is given a delicate and intense performance - truly an expidition into some of the most personal of the composer's music.

Two of today’s brightest soloists take on Mozart and Hummel concertos, then come together with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra for Shostakovich.  

The Orchestra of the Swan and David Curtis are on a mission to rescue the reputation of Mozart's alleged rival and tormentor.

Being the resident band in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Orchestra of the Swan is having a busy time of it right now, in the lead-up to Shakespeare400. 

In a wonderful piano recital, Mitsuko Uchida presented Schubert’s Four Impromptus and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations.

Britten Sinfonia and Voices directed by Eamonn Dougan courageously plumb the depths of humanity’s despair in music ancient and modern

Two individually strong musical components met in this Czech field trip, but will they connect to form something new?

Benjamin Grosvenor presented a fascinating programme of works, demonstrating a profound musical intellect.

There’s more to Brazil than nuts and football, as our reviewer discovered in an evening devoted to Brazilian Baroque, presented by Ex Cathedra. 

The Czech Pavel Haas Quartet bring their distinctive sound and selfless musicianship to Birmingham, in the first of three concerts featuring Matthew Hunt in Brahms's Clarinet Quintet alongside twentieth century quartets.

Mendelssohn developed quite a soft spot for Birmingham, even producing a sketched portrait of the city. At the centre of this portrait stands Joseph Hansom's splendid neoclassical Town Hall where Mendelssohn conducted several of his own works, most famously the première of his great oratorio, Elijah.

A deep red hue lights the stage. It is St George’s day and King Arthur’s Britons are about to fight the invading Saxons. Centre stage, four soloists – Saxon priests – are gathered to perform sacred rites to ensure their victory. To the left of the stage a harpsichord plucks out a tune above a bass viol and theorbo, whilst to the right a spotlight falls on Merlin, who relates the story.

What a lovely way to round off a weekend, with some feel-good favourites from one of the world’s finest early music ensembles. Currently in their silver jubilee season, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra actually began to emerge a couple of years earlier than their official 1987 launch.

As part of Birmingham’s International Concert Season, there’s a series of lunchtime performances from rising stars, entitled “Bright Futures”.

Though born in America, Stephen Kovacevich has lived in London since moving there to study with the great Dame Myra Hess at the age of eighteen. He clearly has a special rapport with British audiences, as his amiable manner in discussing his encores demonstrated.

No wonder Jayson Gillham looked pleased to be back on stage at Birmingham Town Hall. It must have brought back some happy memories, as it was here that he won first prize in the 2011 Brant International Piano Competition. In the intervening couple of years, he’s built up an inspiring CV.

The epic Birmingham Beethoven Cycle is a remarkable collaboration, in the 2012/13 season, between the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (who are performing all the symphonies), Town Hall Symphony Hall and a variety of outstanding artists including Leif Ove Andsnes, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Steven Osborne.

What better antidote to the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping than a sackful of festive concertos? With Birmingham’s famous German market in full swing right outside the Town Hall, inside was also packed with concertgoers of all ages eager to hear celebrated violinist Nicola Benedetti.

Here’s a choir that need never worry about attracting younger members. It runs its own school, with around 300 children, and from the age of ten the most musically gifted boys are channelled into the choir.

If you love Bach – and who doesn’t? – Birmingham was the place to be this weekend, for a delicious series of concerts, lectures and discoveries at the Town Hall and Symphony Hall under the heading ‘Bach: A Beautiful Mind’.

Right, we had our fun with the lively Scholl/Jaroussky concert in the Barbican in December, now for the serious stuff, Andreas Scholl singing the Purcell his admirers have wanted to hear for years. With one or two exceptions, the programme concentrated on Purcell's quieter, deeper and more reflective repertoire.