Piotr Beczala fires up for La bohème

A Polish tenor with the talent and the confidence to speak out against the avant-garde at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House

Wagner opera pieces triumph at Festival Hall

The composer's works by the Philharmonia Orchestra were magic, while Austria's best were celebrated at Wigmore Hall

Britten Sinfonia

You feel that a sad, noble beauty has been fleetingly glimpsed or created, in spite of the harsh, incomprehending world surrounding it

Philharmonia/Mackerras

The life force that courses through Mackerras’s music-making tingles with energy and draws swift and smiling response from his players

Scottish Ensemble

This rich, intense programme edged through lowering gloom. Still, no festive season is without its dark side

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Jarvi

Not being Latin American the Birmingham players put in huge effort but gave a performance that suggested that they were sitting an exam

Philharmonia/Makerras

Wagner is not a calling card of the protean Mackerras, but the same qualities that he brings to so much opera were all displayed here

Concertgebouw/Jansons

This great Dutch orchestra produced the sort of heart-stopping playing to make stone walls weep

How I became a fan of George Crumb

Seeing him on film, in concert and in conversation, you can come to like the visionary, octogenarian American composer

The best classical music of the decade

Rattle arrived in Berlin, Covent Garden marvelled at Villazon’s debut and a 50-year-old Wagner recording was rediscovered

Divas and the rest of the Christmas releases

Leontyne Price etc make a dramatic effort with a range of carols; also on offer are The Manchester Carols and a Christmas Story

BBCSO/Brabbins

A celebration of the 80-year-old American composer George Crumb revealed him again as a composer of genuine, if fragile, gifts

Leif Ove Andsnes

Mussorgsky may never be the same again as Pictures at an Exhibition is given the video treament by Andsnes and Robin Rhode

Elias string quartet: Mendelssohn recital, Kings Place

The concerts were a rewarding celebration of the Mendelssohn bicentenary curated by the violinist Peter Cropper

Handel's Messiah: ENO

Deborah Warner's effort is a turgid charity case for affluent opera goers, her basic premise is by now a well-worn cliché

Robin Ticciati: lightning conductor

Still only 26 years old, the British star is taking the world of classical music by storm, reports Emma Pomfret

The revolt against 'unfair' music contests

These are difficult times for classical music competitions — observers speak of corruption and of jurors cutting deals

Philharmonia/Maazel at the Festival Hall

The Magic Flute

The Royal College of Music haven’t exactly helped their singers by opting for Mozart in the original German

Leonidas Kavakos/ Nicholas Angelich

The Greek violinist caused jaws to drop with his extreme subtlety and near-impossible technical sheen

Piotr Beczala fires up for La bohème

A Polish tenor with the talent and the confidence to speak out against the avant-garde at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House

Wagner opera pieces triumph at Festival Hall

The composer's works by the Philharmonia Orchestra were magic, while Austria's best were celebrated at Wigmore Hall

Britten Sinfonia

You feel that a sad, noble beauty has been fleetingly glimpsed or created, in spite of the harsh, incomprehending world surrounding it

Philharmonia/Mackerras

The life force that courses through Mackerras’s music-making tingles with energy and draws swift and smiling response from his players

Scottish Ensemble

This rich, intense programme edged through lowering gloom. Still, no festive season is without its dark side