Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV1041

In Chan Yoong-Han and Kong Zhao Hui, the performances of Bach’s two solo violin concertos were in good and steady hands. 

Vengerov joined by violinist Rafter and oboist Manning dish up three delightful concerti by Bach in the first half, while in the second half, Vengerov conducts a thoroughly convincing account of Dvořák’s Symphony no. 9

As part of their swing through some of America’s top concert halls, Isabelle Faust joined Les Violons du Roy to bring Bach and Handel to Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Isabelle Faust joined the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in finely honed performances of Bach violin concertos and a rarely performed version of an orchestral suite.

Vilde Frang galvanises the English Chamber Orchestra, with the slow movement of Bach's E major violin concerto proving the highlight of the evening.

Hope can spin high-lying musical phrases with a sweetness and suspension that few of his contemporaries can match.

Meditations from the Bach family on the human condition in "Cantatas for the soul" performed by the Dunedin Consort in Ta Giezu Church at the Valletta International Baroque Festival.

Richard Tognetti brings Baroque masterworks to Melbourne along with the world premiere of Kats-Chernin's new work for strings, Singing Trees.

The Scottish Ensemble's seasonal concert by candlelight looks at J.S. Bach and those inspired by his music.  

Imaginative keyboard leadership from visiting director Richard Egarr a highlight in his programme with the Australian Chamber Orchestra's 'Golden Age' tour.

Leonidas Kavakos conducts Mussorgsky and touching Sibelius with the National Symphony. 

"Glorious Bach" offered up exactly what it said on the tin as Royal Northern Sinfonia, with their guest conductor, baroque specialist, Laurence Cummings delivered some of Bach’s happiest music in a radiant and unfussy way.

An evening of music-making of great integrity and intelligence from renowned Bach expert John Butt and his dynamic ensemble. 

Can you imagine being a concertgoer in the early years of the 18th century, when Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel were all writing new music and performers were being pushed to find new ways of playing?

Vladimir Jurowski put in a surprise appearance at the harpsichord at the start of this London Philharmonic Orchestra concert, which saw Leonidas Kavakos join the orchestra for concertos by Bach and Karl Amadeus Hartmann. But it was the Eroica that drew the strongest performance.

In a rare appearance outside London in the UK, world-renowned Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova, harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone and the Italian ensemble Accademia Bizantina took to the stage at St George’s Bristol to perform four Baroque concertos by J.S. Bach.

The musicians got on a bus to their next destination as the audience left the music hall. What had happened no longer was. Yet so much had changed after two Beethoven symphonies and Bruch’s violin concerto, all totems of the staple repertoire. In the hands of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, they became almost as palpable as a drawing. The Academy is a perfectly balanced ecosystem.

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.

Alina Ibragimova barely glanced up from her score during her Bach concerto with Britten Sinfonia last night, and the result was some of the most intense, beautiful music-making I can recall hearing.

Frans Brüggen led the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century in what proved to be a monumental afternoon of music. Ever true to the spirit of its namesake, this ensemble has dedicated itself since 1981 to the practical execution of works from the Baroque era. This particular program showcased works spanning a 25-year range, from Bach’s Orchestral Suite no.

Baroque music is pretty old, isn’t it? But the great thing is, you don’t have to have the advanced years of a Brandenburg Concerto to put it on. The Oxford Philomusica has been active for little more than a decade – and they rushed through the pouring rain to play at the similarly young St George’s Bristol.

Winter in the Swiss Alps: freezing temperatures and snow outside. A modest seventeenth-century church of elegant proportions, painted plasterwork and wood panelling. A dozen crack musicians, specialists in baroque music.

Artiste en résidence au festival L'Offrande musicale, Renaud Capuçon a offert une belle prestation de chef-violoniste, bien secondé par le jeune altiste Paul Zientara et l'ONCT en petit effectif.

Un concierto, en conclusión, notable, que comienza a escribir con caligrafía musical digna de encomio la nueva historia de la OBS tras los meses de confinamiento.

Lebhaft und energisch wie eh und je war Harmonie Universelles Konzert mit manch kleiner Überraschung im inspirierenden Heute des Jahres 1713.

 Au Festival de Gstaad, Hilary Hahn est éblouissante dans les concertos de Bach. Mais le reste du programme déçoit.

La Munich Chamber Orchestra con el joven Eric Silberger como solista ofreció un recorrido variado y ameno; un viaje de ida y vuelta por las sonoridades barrocas, lejanas pero cómplices, de Piazzolla y Bach para llegar la desencantada tristeza de Barber y a la elegancia de Tchaikovsky.

En avril, le concert de l'Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse pour la saison 2016-2017 a proposé un programme quelque peu bouleversé par l'absence, pour raison de santé, du violoniste Nemanja Radulovic vivement attendu cependant par le public après son exceptionnelle prestation d'il y a quelques mois à Mulhouse.

On ne peut que louer à l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande en petit effectif la volonté d'ouvrir son répertoire au baroque. Malheureusement la réalité fut moins heureuse et a semblé un peu nous faire revenir des années en arrières point de vue du style, n’échappant pas à une certaine platitude.

Das Orchester ist der Star bei Daniel Hopes Amtsantritt als neuer Leiter des Zürcher Kammerorchesters.

S’il est bien un reproche qu’on ne saurait formuler à l’égard de David Grimal, c’est de manquer d’ambition. A l’affût de tous les répertoires, fidèle à une approche démocratique de la musique, expansif sans pour autant céder à l’étalage …  

Une promenade musicale mettant en lumière les filiations musicales d'une grande dynastie de musiciens, entre héritage et modernité, école allemande et italienne, baroque et prémices du Romantisme.