City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Nelsons

Never before have I heard such warm, veiled, ethereal beauties from these players, or indeed from Symphony Hall

Les Arts Florissants

But in this fine concert Les Arts Florissants returned to home base of the 18th-century masters

English Concert/Padmore

This fascinatingly programmed evening of Purcell and Handel maintained a constantly high level of inspiration from start to encore

SCO/Walker

The full version of Edward Harper’s flawed but moving Second Symphony is finally heard, several months after his death

Three stars for The Antlers

Although their album is garnering glowing praise, the Antlers were not able to do it justice on stage, says Lisa Verrico

Electronic avenue

The Huddersfield festival of modern masters has rediscovered its glory days, and found an improved version thereof

Cecilia

Repetition and transformation of motifs, and minimalist patternings give unity and stamina to a finely-spun score

London Philharmonic Orchestra/Jurowski

Schnittke’s stupefying Third Symphony was introduced by the works of Berg, Webern and Lindberg — all powerfully performed

Ryuichi Sakamoto

A chart-topping superstar in his native Japan, the boyish 57-year-old is promoting his two new albums with a solo tour

Cecilia Bartoli

A final encore had Bartoli prancing in with scarlet ostrich feathers in her hair, prompting ecstatic ovations

OAE/Ex Cathedra/ Jeffrey Skidmore

The evening’s biggest disappointment lay in Skidmore’s shaping of the score. We needed a firmer pair of hands

Steve Ross & Patricia Hodge

Ross has never been the greatest singer, but his dapper charm and light touch at the keyboard are ample compensation

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Acoustic guitarists from Mexico City, Rodrigo y Gabriela are a reminder that sometimes music succeeds solely on merit

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

The King’s Singers

This was Singers in their most aromatic mode, hymning the Virgin Mary in settings from the Middle Ages to the present

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...