Serenity and Seriousness: Joy and James Lisney at St John's, Smith Square

Winter has struck Bristol pre-emptively this year, and finding a nice, warm place to hide on a Sunday morning is a good way to lessen the hold of its icy clutches.

Imagine, for a moment, that you're an 18th century German or French baron deciding what you're going to do with your evening. You might do worse, perhaps, than to invite a couple of dozen friends to your well-appointed sitting room, and bring in one of the great musicians of the day to talk to you about his favourite music and play it to you.

Songs and symphonies from Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra, concluding with a vision of “heavenly life” from Gustav Mahler. 

Fragments by Brahms, Schoenberg and Schubert orbit Beethoven's Waldstein and Schumann's Carnaval in another masterful recital from Sir Stephen Hough.  

In Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, Yulianna Avdeeva commands attention through sheer innate charisma, anchored in intense engagement.

Edward Gardner’s Pittsburgh Symphony debut brings freshness and intensity to Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, alongside a sparkling tribute to Michael Tilson Thomas.