Prom 21: Death and dances from the Aldeburgh World Orchestra

The Aldeburgh World Orchestra, made up of 119 youngsters with 32 different nationalities, only started playing together 3 weeks before this concert. Armed with this knowledge, the expectations of a concert understandably lessen: you expect it to still be good but not brilliant. But the orchestra did end up playing brilliantly, especially in Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 5.

Elder's reading of A Sea Symphony has the maturity and surefooted-ness of a conductor who has fully absorbed the work and long since recognised it as a masterpiece.

Sir Mark Elder conducts the world premiere of Huw Watkins' Concerto for Orchestra and Strauss' gargantuan Alpine Symphony.

Aigul Akhmetshina is on the verge of becoming the definitive Carmen; in this first revival of Michieletto's 2024 production at Covent Garden, she delivers the standout performance. 

Together with soloist Sir Stephen Hough, the CBSO and Sir Mark Elder reinvent Brahms’ First Piano Concerto, present the complex non-narrative of Janáček The Fiddler's Child and suggest real happiness in Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony. 

Lili Boulanger evokes the abyss and Mahler struggles out of it, as Sir Mark Elder bids his final farewell to the Hallé.