Academy of Ancient Music / Collins @ Milton Court Concert Hall, London

This was a perfectly balanced concert from the Academy of Ancient Music, conducted by Michael Collins, in which Mozart formed the backbone to the evening...

Il Barbiere di Siviglia @ De Nationale Opera, Amsterdam

Davide Luciano has been wowing opera houses with his Figaro for a couple of years now, and his performance in Il Barbiere last Wednesday at...

Gerhaher / Huber @ Wigmore Hall, London

Christian Gerhaher has a beautiful voice, he is fortunate in his accompanist, he is clearly a very self-effacing fellow and he loves the music he...

Le Willis @ Royal Festival Hall, London

Puccini’s first opera is understood to be Le Villi, but until now anyone who has ever heard it would have been experiencing the two-act version,...

Le Concert de L’Hostel Dieu / Comte @ St John’s Smith Square, London

Holy Week in Naples has a historical tradition of being a musically turbid affair, with snatches of religious music from the open-doored churches mingling with...

Boesch / Martineau, Winterreise @ Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam

No one who had made their own winter journey to the Muziekgebouw’s beautiful Grote Zaal on this perishing evening, can possibly have been left untouched...

Connolly / Newby / Middleton @ Wigmore Hall, London

Sarah Connolly is hugely popular, and her brilliance and intuitive understanding of the material she presented was, as always to the fore. In Debussy’s Chansons...

BBC Symphony Orchestra / Brabbins / Kolesnikov @ Barbican Hall, London

The most noticeable thing about Pavel Kolesnikov, aside from his youth (he’s 29 but looks a lot younger), is the size of his hands. When...

LSO / Roth @ Barbican Hall, London

The first of the Barbican’s ‘Roots’ series kicked off on Sunday night with Ligeti’s surprisingly calm piece Lontano, a work which also received a performance...

The Silver Tassie @ Barbican Hall, London

Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie, based on Seán O’Casey’s eponymous play, was written between 1997 and 1999 and premiered at English National Opera in 2000....

The Rake’s Progress @ Royal Festival Hall, London

Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress of 1951 and Hogarth’s paintings both chart the rise and fall of Tom Rakewell as he comes into wealth, is then...

Tenebrae / Connolly @ Wigmore Hall, London

The vocal group Tenebrae was joined by Dame Sarah Connolly and Eugene Asti on Wednesday evening in a celebration of the composer and poet Ivor...

La traviata @ Glyndebourne Tour, Lewes

Tom Cairns’ simple, direct production of Verdi’s best-loved work, here revived by James Hurley, makes the perfect introduction to opera – paired with Massenet’s Cendrillon...

The Triumph of Time and Truth @ King’s Place, London

Handel originally wrote the oratorio Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV 46a in 1707, and provided a second revised and expanded version, renamed...

Company @ Gielgud Theatre, London

“A man with no emotional commitments reassesses his life on his 35th birthday by reviewing his relationships with his married acquaintances and girlfriends. That is...

Dido and Aeneas / Jonas / I Will Not Speak @ Hackney Empire, London

The short running time of Dido and Aeneas usually sees companies pair it with another one-act opera. In the case of English Touring Opera, however,...

Cendrillon @ Glyndebourne Tour, Lewes

This new production of Cendrillon and the revival of the 2014 La traviata mark fifty years of the Glyndebourne Tour; established in 1968 with the...

Solomon @ Royal Opera House, London

Handel wrote an astonishing nineteen works for the Covent Garden Theatre (twenty, if you count Oreste which lacked original music), including some of his greatest...

Appl / Johnson @ Wigmore Hall, London

Graham Johnson’s innate understanding of the music he plays is always a joy to experience, and, on Thursday evening, the selection of Lieder, mélodies and...

Julian Joseph’s Tristan & Isolde @ Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

If someone were asked to think of a halfway house between opera and jazz, the chances are they would not arrive at oratorio. That is,...