Vilde Frang

Stepping in for the indisposed Leonidas Kavakos, the 22-year-old Norwegian violinist is star in the making

M83/Maps

Maps failed to make that vital connection with the crowd, but with M83 the night entered a completely new dimension

Scottish Ensemble/Tenebrae

Nigel Osborne’s commission for the City of London Festival was sung with a rapt plangency by the voices of Tenebrae

East Neuk Festival

A polished mixture of top-notch chamber music and off-the-wall electronic, performed in unusual places

Mingus Dynasty

Thanks to the efforts of his charismatic widow, Sue, Charles Mingus’s music is reaching a wider audience than ever

Cheltenham Festival

The opening weekend of the Cheltenham Festival celebrated both Handel and Birtwistle — and in fine style

Ute Lemper

With the German singer trying to turn herself into a jazz diva, the self-indulgence has reached painful levels

Jack Peñate

Along with the speedy showmanship, there was a new musical depth to Peñate’s performance

Kraftwerk/Reich

Kraftwerk’s retro-futurist spectacular still feels as fresh as tomorrow in a stupendous start to the Manchester Festival

Neil Young/Bruce Springsteen

Two nights, two gigs, two old-timers (and McCartney): live music has seldom seemed so life-affirming or sounded so young

Does Lenny Kravitz still have it?

Kravitz was a man on a mission to entertain, so good that much of the crowd failed to notice how mediocre some of his songs were

Malcolm Middleton

“Moan more, Malcolm,” someone shouted when Middleton’s deadpan banter strayed uncomfortably close to cheery

Stanley Jordan

At first it seemed as if pure gee-whizzery might get the upper hand as he launched into a dizzying sequence of runs

Review: Crosby, Stills & Nash

A lovingly and perfectly executed performance of mellifluous three-part harmonies for which the band is justly renowned

M. Ward

As the generic truck-stop blues-bar rockers began to stack up, an air of indulgence crept into proceedings

Spinal Tap

With 10,000 people prepared to pay almost £50 a ticket, you start to wonder who exactly the joke is now on

U2 rock Barcelona

On a good day U2 can still match the peaks of their imperial years but at times this fell well short of those glorious highs

The Nash Ensemble

To me, MacMillan’s piece seems to encapsulate perfectly the clashing public sentiments about the Piper Alpha tragedy

Philharmonia/Schiff

With his gold watch-chain and his gentlemanly stance, Schiff seems like a musician from a bygone age

Anastacia

By the time she was making animal noises it was hard not to wonder exactly which planet she thought she was on