Live, On demand, Streamed event: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op.36

At Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, the Wiener Philharmoniker and Andris Nelsons launch a chronological cycle of Beethoven's nine symphonies with the first three sticks of dynamite.

Daniel Pioro reminds us of the qualities of Oliver Knussen's Violin Concerto, while Vasily Petrenko and the LPO see a pair of second symphonies in very different ways.

To mark #Beethoven250, the Australian Chamber Orchestra plays his first three symphonies in concert. But can one eat three delicious desserts in one sitting? 

Nine symphonies, five orchestras, two days: an immersive weekend as part of the Barbican's Beethoven 250 coverage featuring some of the UK's finest orchestras. 

Norrington was at the forefront of the period instrument revolution in Beethoven performance practice. Here, he returned to the Queen Elizabeth Hall with two major key symphonies. 

The SCO’s Beethoven cycle continues with a meaty menu of three symphonies

A new work by Steve Reich shared the stage with two Beethoven favorites. While neither composer particularly illuminated the other, they shared their program nicely.

This lightweight, combustive account lacked bluster, sourcing tension from its forward momentum.

Playing under its music director Gábor Takács-Nagy, the VFCO radiated joy for music-making; the very thing Verbier – and now Tsinandali – is all about.

Nézét-Séguin draws limpid playing of extreme clarity from the BRSO to provide a telling account of Shostakovich's Fifth.

The Greek conductor and his hand-picked Russian orchestra offer high-voltage Beethoven that crackles.

Carlo Rizzi and Elizabeth Koch Tiscione perform exquisitely in Mozart’s Oboe Concerto with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

A night to remember in Antwerp as Salonen and the Philharmonia demonstrated once again that, in the right hands, familiar repertory can still prove compelling and even surprising.

Blomstedt’s lean and athletic performances of Beethoven’s and Sibelius’ second symphonies go to show that age really is just a number. 

Radu Lupu produces Mozart so sublime as to delight the angels, Saraste and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra give us a lesson in poise, balance and blended sound.

Stunningly fresh performances of ubiqitous classics from Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

The Cleveland Orchestra’s first evening of the season at the Blossom Music Center also included a performance of Beethoven’s Second Symphony that was both sparkling and appropriately dramatic.

Adès brought a freshness and originality to Beethoven's earliest symphonies, and a sharp portrait of the composer was given courtesy of Gerald Barry.

Symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven bookended a Mozart horn concerto featuring CSO principal Daniel Gingrich.

Giovanni Antonini conducts the Tonhalle Orchestra in an appealing programme of works by Beethoven, Bach and Vivaldi that marked the Zurich debut of the dynamic Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital.

An overall commendable performance dampened only by a ho-hum Beethoven. 

The Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment celebrates its 30th birthday this season. Sunday's concert at the Royal Festival Hall displayed it in its full vitality.

A perfectly oiled machine, the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle performed an unforgettable concert of Beethonven's symphonies with astonishing artistry and sublime musicality.

On a rare visit to Milan, a programme of Gaspare Spontini and Beethoven exhibited a sound that was sometimes rough around the edges but brimming with creative energy. 

Lively performances Beethoven’s First and Second Symphonies demonstrating that composer’s compositional development, plus Hindemith’s colorful Symphonic Metamorphosis, made for an enjoyable evening at Severance Hall. 

Jonathan Nott and the London Symphony Orchestra deliver an energetic, precise and intense performance of Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony. 

The OSM opened their 2014 offering with an evening of Beethoven. Kent Nagano was at the helm with pianist Radu Lupu as the soloist in the Fourth Piano Concerto.

Ludwig van Beethoven once said: “Tones sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes.” On 19 September, 2013, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra performed three works by the late Classical and early Romantic composer: the overture to Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, and his first two symphonies.

“Synesthesia” is a neurological condition that causes an involuntary sensory experience to be provoked from an initial stimulation of a different sensory or cognitive pathway – for instance, automatically associating colors with numbers, letters, or sounds. Olivier Messiaen, a 20th-century French composer, organist, and ornithologist, “heard” colors in all music, whether tonal, modal, or serial.

Unity over division, peace over war, a higher cause for humanity: no symphony better expresses the mission of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra than Beethoven’s Ninth, and no orchestra plays this symphony with greater emotional power. With Daniel Barenboim on the rostrum, this symphony’s composed, collective redemption becomes at once entirely natural and entirely miraculous.

Sharing a concert with Beethoven can be a tough assignment. The old stalwart is, with good reason, still a popular draw to the concert hall. As part of its centenary celebration of Witold Lutosławski, the LA Phil chose to pair music of Beethoven with that of the Polish composer.

Why would you ever perform Beethoven 1 and 2 today? Beethoven wrote seven later symphonies which are clearly better. That's kind of the point of Beethoven. Looking back on these two quite early works given knowledge of those masterful symphonies yet to come, it's hard to justify their performance except as stages in a story – a story which, if truth be told, is pretty familiar.

This opening concert to Vienna OsterKlang festival was a reproduction of sorts: on 5th April 1803 a slate of Beethoven works including the first and second symphonies, the third piano concerto and the oratorio Christus am Ölberge was performed in this very theatre.

The second instalment in The Hallé Beethoven cycle was led by Principal Guest Conductor Marcus Stenz, and also featured the striking Nordic colours of Jean Sibelius and Magnus Lindberg.Sibelius’ Symphony No.

Giving its concert on April 9th the subtitle “Sing Mozart Sing” and promoting it with a tongue-in-cheek portrait of the mischievous genius with his mouth half open in a wry smile, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra probably intended the audience to expect an evening of cheerful and light entertainment. The programming suited this intention down to a tee.

Eine gewisse Gehemmtheit in der ersten Hälfte lässt die erwartete Radikalität der Lehr- und Meisterjahre etwas vermissen.

Zum 200. Geburtstag von Walt Whitman widmen sich Thomas Hampson, Mariss Jansons und das BRSO den Four Walt Whitman Songs von Kurt Weill.

Avec l'Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Andreas Ottensamer propose un Mozart subtil et doux au Festival de Pâques. À la baguette, Elena Schwarz souligne les longues phrases de la Symphonie n° 2 de Beethoven.

Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder und die Academy of St Martin in the Fields boten in der Münchner Philharmonie ein Beethoven-Programm mit Nachhallwirkung.

Le dernier concert de l’année, avant le traditionnel concert du nouvel an, voyait l’ONCT s’ouvrir aux œuvres. Ce concert de Noel caritatif était organisé en faveur de la Fondation Marie-Louise œuvrant pour l’intégration et l’accueil pour les personnes en situation de handicap avec la maxime : « le meilleur sans vouloir l’impossible ».

Sous le prétexte « humanisme et modernité », le dernier concert de la saison réunissait un vaste aperçu des périodes charnières de l’histoire de la musique en convoquant trois compositeurs : Beethoven, Schubert et Bartok. 

En este primer programa, la OFUANM nos ofreció las dos primeras sinfonías de Beethoven, bajo la batuta del reconocido director Jorge Mester, separadas por el primer concierto para clarinete de Weber, con Manuel Hernández, clarinete principal de la filarmónica, como solista.

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

Deux princes du piano pour cette « nuit Beethoven » concertante, où le vent dans les feuillages bavardait avec les musiciens. Alors que la hardiesse de l’opus 15 en ut majeur était confiée au jeune pianiste britannique Benjamin Grosvenor, Abdel Rahman el Bacha choisissait le bel opus 58 en sol majeur.

« Je ne crois pas qu’il puisse y avoir une fin au renouveau baroque », déclarait encore récemment Ton Koopman, non sans une fierté qu’on ne pourrait qualifier de mal placée.

Salonen en magicien du rythme offre un Beethoven euphorique et hédoniste.

El primer concierto de un ciclo hecho por primera vez de manera cronológica en el país, y maratónicamente, con cinco conciertos en días consecutivos, desbordó en genialidad, en belleza, en destreza y en humanidad bondadosa.