Schnittke Day

The quality was variable in a run-through of 12 of the labyrinthine works of Alfred Schnittke

Royal London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sanderling

The RLPO’s championing of the work of Mieczyslaw Weinberg made one want to explore farther the Soviet composers considerable legacy

Far Theatricals

Two of the biggest hits commissioned by the John Armitage Memorial were featured in this inspiring concert

Stefano Bollani

Bollani is a fearless improviser, and a restless stage presence, here abetted by the brilliant trumpet of Enrico Rava

Arditti Quartet/ Hilliard Ensemble

Jonathan Harvey is composer in residence at the celebration of all that is new (and some that isn’t) in contemporary music

BBC SO/Frisell/Gibbs

Much of this genre-blending concert was given over to Mike Gibbs’s orchestration of Bill Frisell’s “motifs” in Collage for a...

First Night: White Lies, Brixton Academy

Grandiose is in the musical genes of this band that started the year third on the bill and ended it with a major tour

London Philharmonic Orchestra at Jurowski Festival Hall

The LPO’s Schnittke Festival, Between Two Worlds, kicks off with a revelatory semi-staged performance of his Faust Cantata

Snow Patrol at Brighton Centre

The singer Gary Lightbody spent much of his time between numbers explaining what the hell they were up to

The Decemberists

Sixties folk meets heavy metal in an impressive but slightly hard to connect with set. Perhaps being a bearded man helps

Nitin Sawhney

The co-curator of the South Asian Svapnagata Festival gave a performance that was a little too minimal to be convincing

Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Perahia

Two concerts in one — with five-star piano playing as a centrepiece, framed by three-star orchestral performance

Four stars for Seasick Steve at Brixton Academy

It is an odd paradox that a man who has lived through so much hardship can so readily evoke the feelgood factor

Marcus Roberts

The pianist’s trio acoustic performance proved that for them the forest of microphones around most jazz gigs is completely unnecessary

Four stars for Lily Allen in Sheffield

Like a Sally Bowles for the MySpace generation, Allen frequently slipped into burlesque cabaret mode

Aldeburgh Highlights

For the thrilling Monteverdi finale the bright paint still seemed wet as the singers coloured every word exquisitely

Rihanna: exclusive album launch event in Brixton

There was an Amazonian quality to her performance that banished any doubts about her determination and resilience

Philharmonia/Petrenko

Mussorgsky’s bare mountain throbbed and glowered with baleful sonorities; Shostakovich received a magnificently menacing performance

Melody Gardot

Gardot’s singing voice is astonishingly delicate. We are listening to an angel