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Shostakovich, combined with witty Prokofiev, warm and expressive Mozart and atmospheric Mussorgsky from Noseda and the LSO at the Barbican.

The LMO deliver a lively account of Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony and Haydn’s last symphony while Shelley shines in Mozart’s Piano concerto no. 25.

One of Japan’s leading orchestras, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, turned in performances of two warhorses as different as night and day. In between came a revelation in the form of a young cellist destined for greatness.

Nothing to make the horses shy in this latest instalment of the successful artistic partnership between the ASMF and its Music Director.

RSNO’s sparkling Prokofiev, heroic Tchaikovsky and lush Poulenc which celebrated 175 years of the RSNO Chorus was eclipsed by 80 Glasgow schoolboys who sang their hearts out with three songs from All Those Men Who Marched Away.

Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Southbank Chamber orchestra in a programme dedicated to the interpretation of classical dance forms.

Yefim Bronfman was the powerful soloist in Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto. Welser-Möst’s expressionistic reading of Prokofiev’s Third Symphony evoked nightmares of tormented souls.

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

The SCO’s strings play as though they had an insight into the composer’s psyche that few could share. 

Eberle delivers a searingly intense Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major while Stutzmann energises the NSO with some lively Beethoven and Prokofiev.

Side by side, the combined forces of the RSNO and the Mariinsky under Gergiev recall the Western première of Shostakovich Fourth symphony at the 1962 Edinburgh Festival.

Artistry and politics intertwine in a remarkable concert at the Komische Oper Berlin.

Russian repertoire is second nature to Mariss Jansons and this programme at the Barbican with his Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was easily the finest music-making I’d heard all year.

Two big-boned Mozart piano concertos played by Leif Ove Andsnes formed the meaty filling in a concert by the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra that showcased their superb ensemble characteristics.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra scored a major win when they engaged Daniil Trifonov to visit for three orchestral concerts and a solo recital. 

Alexander Shelley and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra mixed simplicity with demonic shenanigans in two Prokofiev symphonies, while Chloë Hanslip dug deep in an impassioned Sibelius Violin Concerto.

Balance and transparency may have been in short supply elsewhere Friday afternoon, but not in Symphony Hall where Juanjo Mena led the Boston Symphony in a bracing program of works by Prokofiev, Weinberg and Tchaikovsky. The 26 year-old Prokofiev wrote the Symphony no.

Louis Langrée conducts the Hallé in music by Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester

 Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra gave a searching examination of Prokofiev's first three symphonies and the Violin Concerto no. 1, each half showing us the contrast between light and shade, airiness and density.

Evocative new works by Adès and Coll were performed thrillingly and provocatively by the Britten Sinfonia as they brought fizz and clarity to Beethoven's eighth and Prokofiev's "Classical" Symphony.

The Royal Northern Sinfonia directed by Bradley Creswick and featuring the guitar soloist Craig Ogden offer an enterprising mixture of works and styles.

Mixed results in the 20th century portion of the program are remedied with some very fine Beethoven playing. 

Soloist Barnabas Kelemen impresses in Szymanowski's Violin Concerto no. 2, while conductor Alexander Shelley impresses with a chirpy Classical Symphony and a brooding Walton First Symphony.

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields brought tremendous energy to a concert of well-loved classics, under the evidently inspirational leadership of Joshua Bell. 

A magnificent account of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony redeems a unique, if uneven program.

The concertmasters of America's top orchestras rival the talents of the world's greatest violinists.  This was proven again in BSO leader Jonathan Carney's thrilling performance of Glazunov's Violin Concerto.

Conductor Brett Mitchell also led worthy performances of Dvořák’s The Noon Witch and Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, joined by student ensemble, the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra.

The London Symphony Orchestra’s first tour in Australia in more than 30 years has stirred an almost unprecedented interest.

The beginning of a concert season given by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is always eagerly anticipated – especially when directed by their Principal, award-winning conductor, Kirill Karabits.

RSNO, James Feddeck and Igor Levit offer an imaginatively interlinked, all-Russian programme - looking forwards and back.

Sinuous and seductive, wily and beguiling, Scheherazade can prove a handful for many conductors. Do you try to tame her capricious moods or succumb to her will? Kirill Karabits allowed Clio Gould and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to relate the tale at their own pace. 

After the great success of Eugene Onegin and the concert for Claudio Abbado, the Texan conductor John Axelrod was again on the podium of the San Carlo Orchestra, with a warm reception for a programme of Prokofiev, Mozart and Brahms. 

There are some concerts where everything comes together, where the music is perfectly suited to the performers, and the hall is perfectly suited to their playing style. Last night’s concert at Saanen Church, in which Elisabeth Leonskaja joined Wojciech Rajski and his Polish Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra to play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 4, was just such an occasion.

Pleasantly enough, Britten Sinfonia went down a thoroughly unconventional route in celebrating their 20th birthday at the Barbican on Saturday, with a brilliantly varied range of new pieces mixing with chamber orchestra classics.

A sunny Sunday afternoon at Colston Hall marked the return of the London Philharmonic Orchestra to Bristol after over a decade away. The orchestra played alongside Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta for a moving performance of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor. This was accompanied on either side by Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 1 and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony no. 2.

To mark the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta was invited to kick-start the Koerner Hall’s chamber music series as part of their debut tour in North American. Despite competing concerts held downtown that very same evening, those who supported the HKS were rewarded by their fine performances.

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra presented a Russian program with a twist; “A Russian Flirt with Haydn”. All four works and three composers that graced the stage were influenced by Haydn, most obviously Schnittke and his Moz-Art à la Haydn. The music worked well together, though I would suspect that this is more due to the Russian background than Haydn’s influence.

Anticipation is running high for the kick off of San Francisco Opera’s summer season on Friday, June 8, 2012, with the local premiere of John Adams’s Nixon in China. As a sort of appetizer to the five-week season music director Nicola Luisotti and his players gave an orchestral concert on June 3 at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley.

Manchester was very fortunate this week to host three fine orchestras: the Orchestre Nationale du Capitole de Toulouse did a wonderful job of Berlioz on Tuesday and the CBSO gave a towering Sibelius 2 on Thursday. Tonight, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic played a breathtaking concert to a packed hall in the final performance of their UK tour.The evening opened with Prokofiev’s popular Symphony no.

To celebrate the 50th birthday of the City Hall Concert Hall on March 2nd, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra chose a programme of short but diverse works with undulating emotional appeal. Star soloist for the evening was cellist Yo-Yo Ma, returning three and a half decades after his debut here.Under the baton of Lan Shui, the evening began with Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture.

The performance of four symphonies in one evening is a rare occurrence, and an interesting feat of programming. The BBC Philharmonic explored the development of the symphonic form from the succint, formal classicism of Haydn and Mozart to the broad romanticism of Brahms, via Prokofiev’s witty take on the classical form.

Neither Prokofiev nor Dutilleux is a exactly a failsafe at the box office, and the combination of both - and a rainy afternoon - left quite a few seats unclaimed at last night's Prom by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev.Which was a shame.

Soirée d'exception à l'Auditorium de Lyon où Truls Mørk, Thomas Søndergård et l'Orchestre National de Lyon en grande forme transportent la salle à travers un somptueux programme 100% russe.

Daniel Barenboim dirigiert Prokofjew und Mahlers Erste Symphonie; letztere wie es sich der Komponist wohl selbst vorgestellt hat.

Los músicos de la formación rusa dotaron a cada momento de continuidad, brindando, por lo demás, una exégesis rica en matices y detalles dinámicos, construidos a través de la articulación empastada y el gesto claro de Gergiev.

Mit Steven Isserlis und Nicolas Hodges zeigt die Britten Sinfonia in Amsterdam ein modernes und leichtfüßiges Konzertprogramm.

Jamie Phillips dirige avec une joie communicative un Orchestre de la Suisse Romande en forme et qui virevoltera d’Haydn en Prokofiev dans un bonheur juvénile, à l’instar du Concerto de Haydn sous l’archet d’un Johannes Moser enjoué !

Le chef Rozhdestvensky annonçant au dernier moment qu'il n'est plus en mesure de diriger l'orchestre, il est remplacé in extremis par Mikhail Pletnev dans les symphonies, et par le premier violon Alexey Bruni dans le Concerto de Scriabine. S'il faut être indulgent dans la laborieuse première partie, la Symphonie n°9 de Chostakovitch est pleine de verve, ce qui est remarquable dans de telles conditions. 

L’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne en voyage à Genève a fait montre d’une très belle cohésion sous la baguette énergique de Santtu-Matias Rouvali.