Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Violin partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV1004

The Second Ragged Music Festival showcases young musicians in Bach and Messiaen in East London.

The “Festival Tour” and its three-venue concerts of the Davos Festival programme included almost as many visual and outdoor delights as it did musical treats. 

Ilya Gringolts and Maxim Vengerov gave world-class performances of landmark pieces by Bach and Bartók, with a generous sprinkling of Prokofiev and Wieniawski giving extra sparkle.

The Bamberg sound remains particularly noticeable in the unanimity and broad, rich beauty of the strings and the sublimely eloquent woodwinds, and the musical authority that lies in the roots of its history. 

A three hour Bach "meditation", with Bach mixed with Kurtág, various other modern pieces and free jazz improvisation all sounded a bit radical. But the results were extraordinary. 

The artistry of Maxim Vengerov is an uncommon phenomenon: it represents a rare amalgamation of repertoire spanning both traditional and modern, of musical interests firmly single-minded at times but broadly versatile elsewhere.

Modern vs Baroque violin? Vibrato vs non-vibrato? Listening to Alina Ibragimova’s performance in this year’s Late Night Bach Prom series, such simplistic distinctions seemed meaningless.

It’s a busy month for superstar violinist Gil Shaham, who started February with Erich Korngold’s Violin Concerto and will end it with a new CD release. In between, he is resuming his exploration of Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin with recitals in the United States and Italy.

Violinist Pekka Kuusisto and composer Nico Muhly performed at (Le) Poisson Rouge, with music by Bach, Pärt, Glass, and Muhly.

Georgian violinist Liana Isakadze and Finnish organist Kalevi Kiviniemi performed a joint recital at St James's Church, Paddington.

I’ve never before dreamt of being a fly on the wall during early discussions of festival programming, but this concert really set me thinking. Two minor-key works? One instrument? Ten o’clock on a Saturday night? The element which reframes everything is the Lammermuir Festival’s binary belief in beauty of music and place.

It seems an unlikely concert title: Bach and electronic improvisations, but that is exactly what the unassuming Pekka Kuusisto informed us we were going to be experiencing at Kings Place on Monday night.

There is a rare beauty to be found in the “normality” of human nature, in which the sense of just “being” transcends any degree of artificial decoration or finery.

It was clear from the start of this Monday’s ‘Out Hear’ concert at Kings Place that we were in for an intense performance. The stage was bare and the lighting was down. Christophe Desjardins’ recital of partitas by J.S. Bach and Philippe Manoury was a serious affair, as befitted a serious and intriguing selection of works.Manoury’s Partita I is for viola and live electronics.

You might think that a programme containing Bach and 20th/21st century composers would suggest an evening of unconnected extremes. Nothing could be further from the truth in the case of Jennifer Koh's Bach and Beyond recital, given in Lennoxlove House, Haddington as part of the Lammermuir Festival.

Following Alina Ibragimova’s recent residency in the medieval Library of Chetham’s School during the Manchester International Festival, her programme of some of the most complex solo violin works has now transferred for a short spell at Wilton’s Music Hall as part of the Barbican’s summer Blaze festival.

Mario Brunello transitó por la música de Bach con la humildad y la intensidad de la primera vez en un brillante concierto con el violochelo piccolo como protagonista.

Die Romanische Nacht verbindet Bach-Partiten und -Sonaten mit Musik der senegalesischen Griots.

Fabio Biondi acomete la solitaria y titánica tarea de interpretar las sonatas y partitas de violín de Johann Sebastian Bach.

Pendant près de trois heures, le prince des violonistes russes s'est livré à une démonstration de charme et d'humilité sans pareille. On s'incline ! 

A la Fondation Louis Vuitton, le musicien a su rendre justice à son talent en célébrant l'alpha et l'oméga de son instrument : Bach et Paganini.

Une ambition affichée : faire sonner l’infini des possibles du plus monumental des instruments sur des partitions qui ne lui sont pourtant pas destinées.