Performer: Teodor Currentzis

As Teodor Currentzis' time in charge of the SWR Symphony Orchestra draws to a close, he bids farewell in a series of nationwide performances of Britten's memorial to the pity of war.

Romeo Castellucci's intense production of Bartók's opera reaps its rewards in the performance under Teodor Currentzis, but Carl Orff's opera-oratorio De temporum fine comoedia feels little more than a drab filler. 

Teodor Currentzis, conducting the SWR Symphony Orchestra, and Yulianna Avdeeva do Prokofiev proud in his Third Piano Concerto and Fifth Symphony: all the colours of the rainbow delivered with sophistication, élan and boundless effervescence.

The pairing of controversial director and bad-boy conductor brings some thrills but the Salzburg Festival's new Don Giovanni proves disappointingly uninvolving. 

An all-day Beethoven experience European style with both highs and lows: much diversity revealed and exploited but of variable quality.

As Matthias Naske prepares to celebrate a decade in charge at the Wiener Konzerthaus, he reflects on the challenges presented by the pandemic and on curating diverse programming for the city.