Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Symphony no. 7 in C major, Op.105

A gamut of Nordic moods and colours are elicited in this all-Sibelius programme comprising the Violin Concerto as well as the Sixth and Seventh Symphonies.

With a programme spanning from Pagh-Paan, Ravel and Messiean to Sibelius, the Korean orchestra showcases its mastery at the Philharmonie Berlin. 

Effortless Brahms and rich Sibelius from Sado and the Tonkünstler-Orchester, with elegant Mozart from Yeol Eum Son at Cadogan Hall.  

The Boston Symphony's final concert of 2024 is marked by appearance of the two conducting fellows from this summer’s Tanglewood Music Center, Ross Jamie Collins and Na’zir McFadden. 

Stephen Waarts plays two 21st-century works for violin and orchestra that deserve to become repertoire regulars, sandwiches by two fine performances of Sibelius symphonies. 

Sakari Oramo and the BBCSO were at the top of their game, bringing a bracing breath of Scandi fresh air and clear light, on a dark December eveneing. 

Hyeyhoon Park, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Benjamin Grosvenor unite for a big-boned, romantic Beethoven Triple Concerto.  

Alexandre Kantorow dazzles in Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto with Kent Nagano and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.

Beautifully shaped, deeply felt interpretations of Britten and Sibelius plus a vibrant world premiere distinguish this Seattle Symphony program led by guest conductor Kazem Abdullah and featuring violinist Augustin Hadelich.

The Finnish conductor paired works by compatriots Jean Sibelius and Kaija Saariaho with interesting, offbeat selections from Stravinsky and Bartók.

Conducting a programme of mostly 20th-century classics that could have come from his early glory days in Birmingham, Rattle was in his element.

Thomas Dausgaard and his Scottish players probe beneath the surface in symphonies by Sibelius and Nielsen, while Jan Lisiecki seeks out maximum contrasts in a Beethoven concerto.

The world premiere of Erkki-Sven Tüür's Flute Concerto, written for Berliner Philharmoniker principal Emmanuel Pahud, is the main dish in Järvi's three-course programme. 

An auspicious opening to the Oslo Philharmonic's Sibelius cycle in Vienna, closing with an especially fine Seventh where the music seems to grow organically. 

In a rather mixed and unconventional programme, Roderick Williams and Amarins Wierdsman provide the highlights of a programme of variable success in Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall.

An unusual collection of five disparate shorter orchestral works made for a fascinating celebration of Sir Simon Rattle’s musical enthusiasms over his career.

In between the two symphonies, there was an extra Sibelius item, and this time it was a novelty.

Robin Ticciati conducts a reflective account of Sibelius' Seventh Symphony, recorded behind closed doors at the Royal Festival Hall.

Not one, but two piano concertos in the Malmö Live Konsertsalen, with a Finnish filling in Patrik Ringborg's Shostakovich sandwich.

Esa-Pekka Salonen pairs Sibelius' last two symphonies in his concert with the Orchestre de Paris

Mäkelä brought out the harmonic inventiveness and the unexpected lyrical character of the music. 

Boris Giltburg provides a captivating interpretation of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, filled with youthful flair. 

Storgårds, Helmchen and the Boston Symphony Orchestra impress with a programme inspired by nature.

Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO kick off the New Year by showcasing a contemporary vocal masterpiece (with Barbara Hannigan as soloist) together with two symphonies by Nordic composers.

Contrasts are fine but they don’t always work: in a programme with a strongly Germanic flavour John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic stretch the boundaries.

With its vertiginous vocal leaps and broad intervals, Komsi's pure pitch-perfect soprano soared like the eldrich keening of a sea bird. The spareness and incantatory intensity were heightened by the BBCSO and Oramo.

In its opening concert of the season, the Philharmonia gave two of Sibelius' symphonies with two modern pieces by a pair of Iceland's finest young composers, which made for rewarding listening.

The music of Sibelius and Mahler may seem worlds apart, but this concert by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrating Finland's centenary, proved that opposites can attract.

Vivid playing thrills at the Proms, but fell short of engrossing storytelling.

A satisfying programme of familiar and unfamiliar works by the BBC Philarhomic under its Principal Guest Conductor. 

The final pair of Sibelius symphonies is memorably performed by the LPO under Osmo Vänskä, with Tasmin Little as the authoritative soloist in Walton's violin concerto.

Lars Vogt and Royal Northern Sinfonia end their explorations of Mozart and Sibelius with the composers' final works.

Before the NY Philharmonic even arrived in San Francisco, skeptics were complaining about the 'hackneyed" repertoire they were bringing on tour. But there was nothing commonplace about their interpretations, power, technical skills or performances. 

The RPO play a contrasting programme of two dark symphonies by Sibelius and Tchaikovsky, with the Georgian panist Khatia Buniatishvili as the soloist in the Schumann concerto.

Alan Gilbert conducts Sibelius and Mahler at the helm of the New York Philharmonic. 

An all Sibelius concert played with precision and flair by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra fails to provide fresh insights into the composer's enigmatic works but violinist Christal Lee is a soloist to watch.

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard took us on a Finnish journey in a haunting programme of Sibelius' last three symphonies. 

The Festival Director gives himself the onerous task of conducting four of the more elusive masterworks.

For the third and final leg of the Proms Sibelius symphony marathon, the baton was passed to Osmo Vänskä, with a change of orchestra from the BBC Scottish to the BBC Symphony.

The Berliner Philharmoniker gives a fascinating account of the distinctive tonal colours, harmonic progressions and variations in tempi in Sibelius' last three symphonies.

Violinist Alina Ibragimova captures both the virtuosity and poetry of the Sibelius concerto, while Juanjo Mena has a firm grasp of the architecture of Schoenberg's Pelleas and Melisande.

After all that tonal instability in last week’s Wagner marathon at the Proms, Daniel Harding and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra’s programme celebrating C major came as a breath of fresh air. The Royal Albert Hall had cooled down a bit too.

Sibelius is an extraordinarily well represented composer in Manchester and, ever since Sir John Barbirolli’s conductorship of the Hallé, all his symphonies have been presented here many times by both native and visiting orchestras – even within the last decade a Sibelius symphony cycle has been undertaken by the Hallé, and tonight marks the third and final concert of the BBC Philharmonic’s 2013 Si

This past Thursday and Friday, Yo-Yo Ma (the CSO’s Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant), Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra tackled the immensely challenging Lutosławski Cello Concerto.

On Friday morning here in the United States, 27 individuals lost their lives in a tragic mass shooting. I would like to preface this review by expressing my sincere condolences for all affected by the tragedy.At the same time on Friday morning, the New York Philharmonic performed a lovely if conventional concert under the baton of David Zinman (replacing Daniel Harding, who was ill).

Manchester audiences are lucky; every year the Bridgewater Hall presents a staggering array of music that could rival any concert hall between Earth and Pluto.

Throngs of the well-dressed faithful came for their periodic worship of the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on Friday night. Lorin Maazel led the players in a backwards tour of three Sibelius symphonies, beginning with the single-movement Seventh, moving on to the inimitable Fifth, and ending with the more traditional First.

Thursday night’s BBC Proms was a celebration of Sibelius, Bartók and Janáček, composers who mastered the classical music tradition and put their home countries on the map.Summoning images of the Finnish countryside, Scènes historiques, Suite No. 2 displayed a range of orchestral colours.

Le compositeur et chef d'orchestre britannique enfilait ses deux casquettes dans un programme qui plaçait ses œuvres – dont la création française d'In Seven Days avec Bertrand Chamayou – en dialogue avec des partitions de Sibelius.