Intrusions and inversions: Morton Feldman's For John Cage at Ether

Now they know how many cacti it takes to fill the Albert Hall. Last night’s marathon John Cage Prom finished up, over three hours after it had started, with a wonderfully cactus-heavy performance of Branches (1976).

From the earthy joy of Meistersinger to the sublime textures of Debussy, Daniele Gatti channels the Dresdeners' legendary, layered warmth into an unforgettable evening of pure acoustic luxury.

Solomon Rosowsky, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky form a matinee programme whose deeper connections gradually came into focus. 

Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin deliver a lean, razor-sharp exploration of captivity and survival, balancing Beethoven’s and Brahms’ structural clarity against the devastating, high-fidelity distortion of Henze’s Ninth Symphony.

French clarinettist Raphaël Sévère unearths beauty in Nielsen’s concerto and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta impress in two settings of Pan’s antics at the French May Festival.

The premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ Symphony no. 5 is postponed, substituted by selections from his Jungle Symphony, along with a disappointing Beethoven’s Seventh at Carnegie Hall.