Performer: Philip Cobb

Rarely has so distinguished a group been assembled to give this work live; it would have shone as a highlight even in a normal year of visiting foreign ensembles and performers.

Joana Carneiro conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a lively Mendelssohn concerto and elegant Mahler Fifth.

Philip Cobb’s bluesy inflections turned the dear old Barbican Hall into the coolest nightspot in the capital; they might as well have lowered the lights and served cocktails.