Work: Symphony no. 7 in A major, Op.92

Elena Stikhina and Vitalij Kowaljow provided an extra touch of class in Shostakovich’s sombre but moving Fourteenth Symphony, with Noseda and the LSO running riot in Beethoven’s Seventh.

Amid stressful cancelations and last-minute program shifts, Xian Zhang offered thrilling interpretations of classic Beethoven and Rossini works in her Philadelphia Orchestra debut.

Julia Adolphe's new violin concerto, Woven Loom, Silver Spindle built impact and structure out of the instability between the brightly spinning realm of the violin and the darker, all-encompassing framework of the orchestra. 

At age 94, Herbert Blomstedt led a superb all-Beethoven concert with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Center, with Garrick Ohlsson an exemplary soloist in the Fourth Piano Concerto.

The young Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund has been making waves on the international circuit and is already exhibiting much promise. Here she directs the Hallé in an eclectic mix of Wagner, Golijov and Beethoven.