Performer: Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France

From Otello's opening thunderstorm, Myung Whun Chung and the Orchestre Philharmonique de France leave us gasping, while Alagna turns in a magnetic performance in the title role.

Les occasions d’entendre les Gurrelieder d’Arnold Schönberg ne sont pas si fréquentes.

"If I were threatened by the destruction of my entire works save one, I should crave mercy for the Messe des morts." Berlioz’s fondness for his own Requiem has never been a great secret. No one else could have fostered such a project, so excessive in every way.

Last Friday, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and its musical director Myung-Whun Chung offered a wonderful panorama of French music: Claude Debussy’s impressionism, Olivier Messiaen’s abstraction and Camille Saint-Saëns’ romanticism.

Who has the power, the authority to fix the moment when a major public event can start? In broadcast events, such as the Proms, where all of the concerts are broadcast on Radio 3 and many are televised, the bigger, virtual audience puts the media in the driving seat. The radio or TV producer holds sway - up to the moment when the conductor steps out into the hall.