Performer: Daniel Reuss

In the final instalment of aus LICHT, the Helicopter String Quartet lives up to the publicity hype and choirs perform marvellous feats.

Three concerts over one day at the opening weekend of Bachfest Leipzig combined Bach’s music with that of composers from Rachmaninov to Sibelius, but nothing matches the unrivalled bliss of Bach’s own music performed with total conviction.

John Adams and Peter Sellars' biblical oratorio given a fine concert performance by the Berliner Philharmoniker under departing chief conductor, Sir Simon Rattle.

Ruth Mackenzie, Holland Festival’s vivacious and invigorating new director, closed her first edition with a twelve hour Prom, reinventing it as a mini-festival at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

On Good Friday, Cappella Amsterdam, conducted by Daniel Reuss, gave a beautifully refined rendition of Bach's St John Passion at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and the riveting Evangelist of Anders Dahlin.

For those who love the additional linguistic dimension offered by a parallel-text programme, this concert was a delight: four items by four composers from two countries – in three languages.The stage of a full Usher Hall lay bare except for 28 shoulder-high music stands, one for each member of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and, facing them, one at conductor height for Daniel Reuss.