Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Royal Albert Hall

David Pountney's vernacular translation and Ruth Knight's vivid staging lent a thrilling immediacy to Shostakovich's chilling opera.

An eclectic programme including evocative Sámi joiks from and powerful Shostakovich performed from memory by the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.

Ryan Bancroft’s LSO programme, inherited from Simon Rattle, mixes attractive English folksong-inspired pieces with more challenging, late 20th-century works.

Despite the disruption, the musicians of the MSO under Chief Conductor Jaime Martín continue their interesting programme of Sutherland, Dvořák and Tchaikovsky.

Marie Jacquot makes her BBC Proms debut with great performances of Bizet, Saint-Saëns and Augusta Holmès, while Inmo Yang dazzles in Sarasate. 

The German violinist gives us plenty of Czech brio in Dvořák; conductor and orchestra display many good qualities but fail to thrill.

Janine Jansen joins the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for Prokofiev in a brilliantly conceived programme ending with Bartók’s ebullient Concerto for Orchestra. 

In the first of two concerts at the BBC Proms, Klaus Mäkelä and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra give a thrilling performance of Mahler's Fifth Symphony and a glowing exposition of Berio's Rendering. 

Fabio Luisi conducts the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in a programme that blends two modern works with Beethoven's Ninth.

This Strauss-Puccini Prom concert paired the Symphonic Fantasy from Die Frau ohne Schatten and Puccini's one-act opera, Suor Angelica. 

Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra, together with Frantic Assembly, present an illuminating analysis of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, followed by a blistering account of the work from memory.

Le Concert Sprituel’s otherwise strong performance of Striggio and other Renaissance works is let down by their staging and the Royal Albert Hall’s acoustics.

Before a searing performance of Shostakovich's Thirteenth from Ryan Bancroft and his Welsh forces, Benjamin Grosvenor delivers a terrific performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major. 

Eva Ollikainen conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and soloist Johannes Moser in the UK premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s BBC co-commissioned Cello Concerto. 

Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales provide a Mahler 3 of exceptional clarity and forward momentum, with terrific posthorn solos from Corey Morris and Beth Taylor an outstanding soloist.

The London Philharmonic and Edward Gardner steer us through four ocean-related pieces, by Sibelius, Tippett, Ravel and Debussy.

A programme heavily skewed to the balletic saw the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Josep Pons dispatch difficult passages with ease.

Domingo Hindoyan, Pacho Flores and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra set the BBC Proms on fire with music from the Americas.

The evening starts with life-affirming Beethoven – and then, the Budapest Festival Orchestra demonstrate just how good native Hungarians can be in Bartók’s chiller. 

Kahchun Wong achieved a gigantic and ambitious landscape of Mahler's Second Symphony at the BBC Proms, even if sometimes lacking in clarity 

Adams, Rachmaninov and Berio are not three easy bedfellows, however Kazuki Yamada and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra pull these strands together remarkably. 

The Swedish clarinettist pays tribute to two jazz legends in Joshua Weilerstein's programme that includes Proms debutante, Elsa Barraine, and Rachmaninov.

Strong performances of Bacewicz and Lutosławski in Tadaaki Otaka's final outing with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the Proms, with technically commanding and sincere Rachmaninov from Vadym Kholodenko.

A composer-conductor's insight yields lasting rewards in Earth Dances and the Eroica at the Royal Albert Hall. 

Ryan Wigglesworth conducts a premiere of his own work before steering the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra through a dextrous and fascinating performance of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony. 

Măcelaru's eclectic programming elicits passionate performances from the Orchestre National de France, and Randall Goosby shows his versatility with elegant and impassioned artistry. 

After the premiere of Mark Simpson's concerto, Anja Bihlmaier concludes her BBC Philharmonic Prom with a rousing performance of the Symphonie fantastique. 

Mahler's “Cinderella” symphony receives another London outing, conducted by John Storgårds at the Royal Albert Hall. 

The BSO play a trio of 20th-century greats — Ravel and Shostakovich both taking inspiration from the age of jazz, while Walton’s First Symphony provides contrast. 

The BBC's annual classical jamboree is launched in fine style with a premiere and a timely revival, conducted by Sakari Oramo. 

The Royal Albert Hall turns out to be a wonderful venue for Birmingham Royal Ballet's transporting Nutcracker.

Schoenberg advocate PatKop performs the knotty Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and young Finn Tarmo Peltokoski. 

Massed choral forces, a strong solo line up and expanded orchestral forces overpower Handel at the end of the BBC Proms Choral Day.

Stunning orchestral colour from the BRSO, with command and total coherency from Sir Simon Rattle in Mahler's “Tragic” Symphony.

Sir Simon Rattle awards Thomas Adès a Royal Philharmonic Society medal during the first visit this summer of the BRSO to the BBC Proms. 

Stéphane Denève conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in music by Fauré, Boulanger and Ravel. 

Klaus Mäkelä presents fresh and dynamic takes on French masterpieces from Debussy and Berlioz, the Orchestre de Paris providing colour and vigour in Stravinsky.

Kirill Petrenko conducts a magesterial account of Bruckner's Fifth Symphony after a trio of motets by the BBC Singers. 

Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax and Leonidas Kavakos hold a sold-out Royal Albert Hall to rapt attention for some astonishing chamber music. 

A pair of thrilling performances at the BBC Proms, neither of which bear any trace of the routine, that will live long in the memory

Lovingly detailed accounts of music dear to the heart of the late master of ceremonies at the Proms.

Jakub Hrůša and his Czech forces give an impressive account of a mass which with its ecclesiastical elements, yet pantheistic spirit and visceral energy points towards a more secular age.

The Year of Czech Music continues at the BBC Proms with a highly-shaped Dvořák Cello Concerto from Proms debutant Anastasia Kobekina and Suk’s monster of a symphony, Asrael.

Jamie Barton sings Mahler's Rückert-Lieder and a UK premiere for Julius Eastman's Second Symphony, a final love letter. 

A knockout performance of Sir Henry Wood's arrangement of Mussorgsky's most famous composition, coupled with refinement and sophistication elsewhere, show the CBSO at the top of its game.

Some unexpected tempo swerves from Minasi in the Jupiter in an otherwise sprightly evening of Mozart from Ensemble Resonanz. 

In its 300th anniversary year, Bach's St John Passion returns to the BBC Proms, with Masaaki Suzuki leading the Bach Collegium Japan. 

Four very pictographic pieces: from early Puccini, through Dukas and Stravinsky to the present-day Spanish composer Francisco Coll. Neatly painted by the performers and with nothing to unduly scare the horses.

The London Symphony Orchestra has a mighty history with Britten’s magnum opus and has this score in their collective DNA. 

Much loved core repertoire is juxtaposed with seldom heard works by anniversary composers Holst and Stanford.