Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Symphony no. 4 in E minor, Op.98

Sir Mark Elder conducts colourful music by Rimsky-Korsakov and Ravel before a low-fat, unsentimental Brahms 4. 

In Buffalo, old meets new in an insightful Brahms Fourth Symphony that shares the billing with a world premiere concerto for two double basses and harp.

Almost a case of bringing coals to Newcastle: two works by Brahms, played by a Swiss orchestra and with an Austrian soloist in the composer's home town.

There's no place like home for Singaporean conductor Kahchun Wong, where he is a musical celebrity. 

The National Arts Centre Orchestra and Joshua Hopkins bring Jake Heggie and Margaret Atwood’s Songs for Murdered Sisters to Roy Thomson Hall, intriguingly partnered with two works from the high Romantic.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic's performances of Brahms' Second and Fourth symphonies at City Hall prove acoustically problematic under chief conductor Jaap van Zweden. 

Stepping in at short notice, Sousa led the Philharmonia in Brahms' Fourth Symphony, before which Steven Isserlis dazzled in a deeply enjoyable reading of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

Alice Sara Ott quenching the demonic flames of César Franck's Le Chasseur maudit with a beautiful rendition of Beethoven's C minor piano concerto. 

Bringing a programme of music from their homeland and works with resonance to the people of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra make a strong impression.

Alsop and the London Philharmonic do full justice to Barber and give Soltani's cello superlative support in Shostakovich, but sound inappropriately restless in Brahms.

Antoine Tamestit continues his Artist Portrait series with a concerto that was initially rejected by its first proposed soloist. 

The eclectic programme of 19th-century concerto and symphony, coupled with a world premiere, failed to yield any knockout performance from this team. 

Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain perform Dvořák and Brahms with a lightness of touch and attention to detail.

Superb communication as the RSNO support their own leader in Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto.

Mark Bouchkov's exceptionally powerful performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto focused on the music's sweep and majesty.

The classical music industry badly needs its new solo stars and less familiar repertory. Jess Gillam and her sparkling saxophone together with the RPO and Vasily Petrenko show the way.

Myung-whun Chung conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Sibelius and Brahms.

Superb performances of Schoenberg and Brahms make the Berliner Philharmoniker's thrilling season-opener with Kirill Petrenko a concert to remember. 

How do you envisage spending your 93rd birthday? Herbert Blomstedt joined the Bamberg Symphony for a programme of Honegger and Brahms. 

Bell didn’t try to impress with speed nor call attention to his virtuosity; expression and color were paramount with notes sounding clearly.

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra triumphs under inspiring conducting in Vienna.

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Semyon Bychkov present a program of Larcher and Brahms.

Rafael Payare and the Ulster Orchestra present a programme of music that looks both backwards and forwards from composers who were musical visionaries.

Bernard Haitink delights at the Concertgebouw in two great symphonies from masters of the 18th and 19th centuries. 

In a terrific performance under Manfred Honeck, the German violinist brings down the house with Beethoven's Violin Concerto. 

Alexandre Bloch and Royal Northern Sinfonia throw down a challenge to any listener who thinks that Brahms is comfortable and easy with a radical reading of his Fourth Symphony.

An unusual programme at the Musikverein, drawing together works by Mendelssohn, Brahms and a piano concerto by Britten. 

Rafael Payare contrasts a stentorian Brahms Symphony 4 with colorful French scores, including a scintillating Shéhérazade.

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra are at a distance from performing at their usual top form in their returning concert in Hong Kong.

Tchaikovsky came off better than Brahms in a concert conducted by Karl-Heinz Steffens. 

If Chailly’s recent Beethoven’s Seventh was notable for its originality, particularly for the conductor's choice of tempi, here he opted for a straighter reading free of idiosyncrasy.

The increasingly effulgent conductor filtered Brahms’ tone through a chandelier of variously-shaped orchestral figures.

One of Japan’s leading orchestras, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, turned in performances of two warhorses as different as night and day: Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, curiously understated, and Brahms' Fourth Symphony, surging with power and passion.

The program also included Martinů’s undeservedly neglected Parables and restrained, lyrical Brahms.

Bright and energetic Walton and a promising, highly lyrical Concerto from Watkins, followed by taut Webern and commanding Brahms from Søndergård and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

At the Ravinia Festival, David Zinman conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the eminent violinist Gil Shaham in music by Prokofiev and Brahms.

Nicola Benedetti impresses a packed Birmingham Symphony Hall with her commanding performance of Szymanowski's second violin concerto in a thrilling programme with the CBSO.

An enthralling account of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony by Itzhak Perlman and the San Francisco Symphony.

As this visiting orchestra from Saxony reached the closing stages of their 2 week UK tour they still had some terrific commitment and punch to their sound.

Denis Matsuev produced fireworks of the right kind in refreshing Tchaikovsky, with taut and dramatic Brahms from Yuri Temirkanov and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

An evening of fine music-making in Birmingham thanks to the CBSO Youth Orchestra Academy and Michael Seal. 

The highlight of the Dresden Philharmonic's evening in Birmingham was Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, with Arabella Steinbacher's performance a joy to experience. 

The Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Daniele Gatti, perform impressive accounts of Brahms’ Second and Fourth symphonies. 

Stanisław Skrowaczewski makes a triumphant return to the Hallé to conduct Brahms, Schumann and Weber of supreme logic and coherence

A rapturous Second Piano Concerto and a towering Fourth Symphony made Bernard Haitink's all-Brahms concert with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe memorable. 

Bernard Haitink and Mitsuko Uchida took a traditional approach to this core repertoire, yet produced performances that sounded anything but dated. 

The Berlin Philharmonic bring their cycle of Schumann and Brahms Symphonies to a fine conclusion with a convincing performance of Schumann's Fourth, and a spell-binding rendition of Brahms' E minor Symphony

Rich textures and sculpted phrases: Iván Fischer presents a unique vision of Brahms' Third and Fourth symphonies. Drama maybe lacking, but the BPO more than compensate with the beauty and elegance of their sound.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra, led by Jaap van Zweden and featuring baritone Matthias Goerne, performed music by Britten, Mahler, and Brahms, in a concert where not enough was ultimately said, despite a strong return from Goerne.

Both Andris Nelsons and the Philharmonia Orchestra showed total commitment to and immersion in Brahms' music in this instalment in Nelsons' cycle with the orchestra. They were joined by Hélène Grimauld for the Second Piano Concerto, before the Fourth Symphony.