Performer: Lawrence Foster

Daniel Lozakovich captivated the audience in Liverpool with his Bruch; Lawrence Foster conducted the RLPO in superb performances of less familiar Liszt and Tchaikovsky.

Boris Giltburg emphasising the expression in not one but two piano concertos, with commanding performances from Lawrence Foster and the Philharmonia.

Two American premières offer very different musical and dramatic takes on Poe's short story, and both prove gripping. 

Jun Kaneko's production of The Magic Flute at San Francisco Opera is a feast for the eyes, but both the stage direction and the translation need work.

Ute Lemper's barnstorming performance of songs from the Weimar Republic chimes perfectly with the Edinburgh Festival's barbed-wire-and-bluebell logo for 2014.

How does Usher House stand up? Like the house, it doesn’t. Welsh National Opera's double bill based on The Fall of the House of Usher underwhelms.