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The Sixteen’s work is spoilt by a shortage of violins and some uneven solo contributions. Such imperfections only serve to highlight the excellence of the very best. 

John Butt and the Dunedin Consort closed the Oslo Church Music Festival with fine performances of CPE Bach and Mozart, even though the concert didn't prove quite as innovative as advertised.

After Renée Fleming was forced to withdraw due to a family emergency, soprano Sylvia Schwartz stepped in to perform with the Oxford Philomusica on the way to the Vienna Staatsoper. At just two days’ notice, Korngold, Zandonai and Leoncavallo were traded for Puccini, Verdi and Lehár.

Since reading Stravinsky’s assertion (in Poetics of Music) that “The more constraint one imposes, the more one frees oneself from the chains that shackle the spirit”, this paradox has fascinated me.

This was the second vocal concert of late (the last being Ariodante with Joyce DiDinato) to feature an exemplary female soloist caged inside an otherwise nondescript performance. Jérémie Rohrer tried in vain to force energy out of French chamber choir Les Elements and period ensemble Le Cercle de l’Harmonie.

Nicolas Chalvin dirige un programme lyrique qui creuse les contrastes.

L’Église Saint-Vincent de Lyon résonne de plain-chant et de filigrane orchestral.

Jeudi 24 septembre, Laurence Equilbey dirigeait le chœur Accentus et Insula Orchestra dans un programme constitué des Vêpres solennelles de Mozart et du Magnificat de C. P. E. Bach. Deux grandes œuvres qui ont fait l’objet d’une interprétation tristement rigoureuse, où la technique étouffait l’émotion.