Alexandra Coghlan

British Youth Opera’s production of Stravinsky and W. H. Auden’s The Rake’s Progress at Battersea Arts Centre features a highly promising young cast, led by Sam Rose’s vulnerable Tom Rakewell and supported by strong performances from Sam Young, Sophie Bysouth and Rhian Davies. The participant-led staging has awkward sight lines, a sparse and sometimes ineffective design, and recurring orchestral balance problems, while the orchestra’s execution is uneven. Despite these technical shortcomings, the cast conveys the opera’s central heartbreak with considerable force.

Martin Fröst led the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in a Proms programme built around the idea of dance, combining Bach, Rameau and contemporary works with Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. The first half blurred baroque and modern styles through Hans Ek’s arrangements, while dancer and principal cellist Anna Garde featured in Jacob Mühlrad’s Helix. Beethoven’s symphony emerged as the programme’s central test, receiving a highly dynamic, rhythm-focused performance that emphasized its sharp transitions, sparse orchestral textures and wild, motoric finale.

James Gaffigan led the BBC Symphony Orchestra in an all-American BBC Proms programme at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Wynton Marsalis’s UK-premiere Concerto for Orchestra was praised for its playful Americana, rhythmic energy and glossy orchestral writing, while the orchestra performed with particular force in Helen Vollam’s trombone solo. Yeol Eum Son’s elegant but restrained account of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto was less successful, with the orchestra sometimes overwhelming her. The concert concluded with a gripping, urgent performance of Samuel Barber’s Symphony No 1, bringing out its dark, cinematic tension.

Tenebrae and Nigel Short opened the final Bristol Proms concerts with Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles, a spatially ambitious work inspired by the pilgrimage to Santiago. The choir’s singing and precision were highly praised, although St George’s Bristol’s heat, creaking floors, audience movement and an interruption undermined the intended ritual effect. At Bristol Beacon, Sakari Oramo and Anu Komsi gave a restrained, focused performance of György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments, drawing out the work’s mixture of tenderness, absurdity, eroticism and philosophical questioning.

Mark Elder leads the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Monteverdi Choir and an accomplished cast in the Proms’ long-awaited semi-staged premiere of Weber’s Oberon. A new rhyming narration by Timothy Knapman, delivered by Tamsin Greig, replaces the opera’s cumbersome dialogue and makes its incoherent fairy-tale plot more accessible, though it is overlong. The performance reveals considerable charm in Weber’s score and benefits from strong choral and vocal work, but the opera’s stylistic inconsistency, problematic attitudes and occasional tuning issues leave it an intriguing yet ultimately unconvincing theatrical hybrid.

Phelim McDermott’s Tao of Glass, now making its London debut at Soho Place, is a personal theatrical homage to composer Philip Glass. Inspired partly by a failed collaboration on Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen, the production combines monologue, puppetry, musicians and stage magic to explore where music and artistic inspiration come from. Its non-linear structure mirrors Glass’s repetitive, evolving musical style, while Glass’s compositions run throughout the show. Although Glass himself is absent from the London production, his influence remains central, and the review praises the result as inventive, joyous and emotionally powerful.

Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra presented the world premiere of Brett Dean’s The World’s Wife at the BBC Proms, with Clare Booth delivering a highly theatrical performance of Carol Ann Duffy’s poems about women associated with famous men. Dean’s richly textured, ambiguous score was the concert’s main success. Judith Weir’s Moon and Star brought striking orchestral sweep and shimmer, while Elgar’s First Symphony was handsomely played but lacked the transitions, balance and emotional momentum needed to fully take flight.

Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Festen Suite received its UK premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. The vivid eight-movement orchestration captures the oppressive, dissembling atmosphere of Thomas Vinterberg’s film and opera, and is judged musically satisfying even without the stage work’s dramatic context. The concert also featured Britten’s cello symphony, sensitively performed by Guy Johnston but with subtle details at risk of being lost in the hall, followed by a clear and ultimately exuberant account of Sibelius’s Second Symphony.

Kazuki Yamada led the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a Proms programme pairing Francis Poulenc with John Adams. Poulenc’s Sinfonietta received a crisp, urbane performance, while Lucas and Arthur Jussen brought irrepressible rhythmic energy and stylish humour to the Concerto for Two Pianos. Adams’s Harmonium became a monumental and moving finale, enhanced by the CBSO Chorus and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, although the central movement, “Because I could not stop for Death,” lacked the necessary intensity. The overall achievement was judged thrilling despite that minor weakness.

A Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall brought together Bach, a Jessie Montgomery premiere, and Beethoven’s Ninth in a programme that proved unexpectedly cohesive. Abel Selaocoe’s dynamic performance shaped Montgomery’s new cello concerto, inspired by the work of Robbie McCauley, weaving vocal techniques and instrumental versatility into an iridescent dialogue with the orchestra. Gianandrea Noseda led the BBC Philharmonic in a witty Bach arrangement and a brisk, optimistic Beethoven finale, offering a message of unity and progress.

The Spanish National Orchestra made its long-awaited Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall under outgoing chief conductor David Afkham. The programme focused on Spanish-associated repertoire by Ravel, de Falla and Rodrigo, with guitarist Rafael Aguirre performing Concierto de Aranjuez. The review praises Afkham’s decade-plus contribution and Aguirre’s expressive playing, while finding the interpretations comfortable, subdued and lacking contemporary Spanish music. Afkham will hand the orchestra’s leadership to Kent Nagano next season.

The season-opening Prom highlighted the 250th anniversary of US independence with performances of Copland and Gershwin, led energetically by Dalia Stasevska. Yunchan Lim delivered a precise, understated reading of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, while post‑interval programming proved uneven, with Josephine Stephenson’s new commission underwhelming and Finzi’s For St Cecilia offering only intermittent impact. Strong contributions from the BBC ensembles and a massed‑voice Wonderwall encore closed a varied and occasionally politically tinged evening.

Olivia Fuchs’s Buxton Festival production recasts Handel’s magical opera as a Love Island-style reality show, using cameras, video tricks, inflatables and gameshow devices in place of sorcery. The inventive staging is supported by energetic playing from Erin Helyard and the English Concert, while Hilary Cronin, Rowan Pierce, James Hall and Tim Morgan deliver strong performances. Cronin receives particular praise for her villainous Melissa and emotionally direct final aria, making the production both comic and moving.

Francesca Caccini’s 1625 opera, the earliest surviving opera by a woman, receives a lively but qualified review from its Buxton Festival staging. The production’s imaginative music-making by Vache Baroque is praised for its color, energy and expressive detail, while Eloise Lally’s serious meditation on power is seen as less successful than the opera’s inherent semi-comic, mythical spirit. Jon Stainsby stands out vocally, though the smaller cast lacks the force for full-scale psychodrama. Despite the absence of the opera’s original horse ballet, the performance retains a potent musical charm.

A Birmingham concert led by Kazuki Yamada highlighted major American composers, framing John Adams’ Harmonium with works by Aaron Copland, Joan Tower and Florence Price. Copland’s pieces were praised for balance and impact, Tower’s fanfare for its boldness, and Price’s orchestrated song cycle for its charm despite limited substance. Adams’ Harmonium delivered a large-scale, time‑bending finale, though the chorus showed some tentativeness, setting anticipation for the Proms performance.

Four contemporary composers created new works responding to Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet for a Spitalfields festival concert performed by the New European Ensemble. The programme traced a cycle from autumn to summer, highlighting themes of interconnectedness from Smith’s novels. Works by Kate Moore, Kinan Azmeh, and Alice Yeung stood out for their distinctive textures and emotional impact, while the ensemble delivered a cohesive, fluid performance. Smith’s live readings linked each piece, underscoring the merging of words and music.

A commemorative concert at Wigmore Hall marking the 50th anniversary of the Soweto uprising featured Leon Bosch and the Ubuntu Ensemble in a programme tracing South Africa’s musical evolution. Bosch’s performance of Shane Woodborne’s Red Ink highlighted themes of struggle and fragile hope, while works by Grant MacLachlan, Monthati Masebe and Jan-Hendrik Harley explored cycles of conflict, generational inheritance and national celebration, ending with an energetic and uplifting finale.

A sold‑out Royal Opera House recital showcased Anna Netrebko’s theatrical flair and vocal versatility across a wide range of repertoire from Rachmaninov to Bellini. Despite occasional lapses in taste and a strained duet partner, her plush tone, expressive legato and playful stage presence generated an enthusiastic audience response, reinforcing her status as a leading soprano.

Ryan Wigglesworth led the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in an Aldeburgh Festival programme featuring Steven Osborne as soloist in works by Ravel and Wigglesworth, contrasting elegant restraint with jazz-inflected orchestral energy. Wigglesworth’s piano concerto blended tension, allusion and off‑kilter rhythms, allowing Osborne to shift from clarity to eerie intensity. Elizabeth Ogonek’s All These Lighted Things opened the concert with playful lightness, while Ravel’s La Valse closed with a dramatic plunge into orchestral power and disintegration.

A choreographed staging of Mahler’s First Symphony at Sinfonia Smith Square offered striking physical movement but compromised musical quality. The orchestral players handled the demanding staging with energy, yet intonation issues, smeared lines and cautious conducting limited the performance’s impact. Though some effective moments emerged, particularly in the third movement and parts of the finale, the event ultimately felt more like a developmental experiment than a fully realised artistic statement.

Ryan Wigglesworth reflects on his artistic development, early mentorships and long ties to Aldeburgh as he prepares for a major role in this year’s festival. His work with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra features prominently, including performances of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and new commissions. He highlights the creative challenges facing contemporary music, urging renewed commitment to new composition and long-term music education, which he sees increasingly dependent on community-led initiatives rather than government support.

A Manchester Camerata programme at Kings Place built toward Peter Maxwell Davies’s Eight Songs for a Mad King, using contemporary works and a new arrangement of Schumann’s Kreisleriana to evoke escalating psychological tension. Performances by Rosie Middleton, Rebecca Hardwick and the ensemble were praised for intensity and emotional precision, with Company Chameleon’s staging amplifying the dramatic impact of the finale.

A collaboration between Thomas Hampson and Ksenija Sidorova offered a shortened and stylistically uneven take on Schubert’s Winterreise, with the accordion replacing the piano but lacking its subtlety. The absence of programme notes contributed to a sense of style prioritised over substance, while Hampson’s delivery was described as strained and overly theatrical. Sidorova’s solo pieces by Piazzolla and Voytenko emerged as the evening’s strongest moments. A closing set of Kurt Weill songs and lighthearted encores entertained the audience but reinforced a cruise‑ship ambience that undercut the programme’s artistic ambition.

A semi-staged performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas under the Cutty Sark showcased exceptional musical execution by the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists despite staging choices that worked against the venue’s overwhelming setting. Notable performances included Karima el Demerdasch’s powerful Dido, Johanna Wallroth’s vivid Belinda, Bethany Horak-Hallett’s commanding Sorceress and Hubert Zapiór’s strong Aeneas. Musically cohesive choral passages and Jonathan Sells’s responsive conducting elevated the production, which is expected to gain dramatic clarity when performed in Norway.

Anne-Sophie Mutter marked 50 years on stage with a Barbican programme centred on advocacy for new music, highlighted by the European premiere of Aftab Darvishi’s Likoo, a lament for women oppressed by the Iranian regime. Placed between two lighter works by André Previn, the piece stood out for its emotional force and clarity. After the interval, Beethoven’s Archduke Trio allowed Mutter and collaborators Maximilian Hornung and Lauma Skride to deliver a richly unified and expressive performance, underscoring her focus on music over showmanship.

A Shakespeare‑themed recital at the Brighton Festival paired Harriet Walter’s incisive poetic monologues for Shakespeare’s women with an eclectic program of songs by composers from Grainger to Bauld, Maconchy and Horovitz. Sophie Bevan’s expressive soprano and Christopher Glynn’s responsive piano unified contrasting styles, with highlights including Desdemona’s blues‑tinged “Willow,” Verdi’s “Ave Maria,” and a series of Ophelia settings. Despite a muted reading from replacement narrator Miranda Richardson, the performance proved compelling enough to retain even audience members expecting a pop concert.

A multimedia concert at the Barbican led by violist Lawrence Power and filmmaker Jessie Rodger blends live performance with digital imagery to explore new concert formats for the digital era. While some visual and conceptual experiments feel overstretched, the integration of filmed sequences across London adds moments of atmospheric creativity. The performance culminates in Cassandra Miller’s viola concerto, praised for its emotional depth and musical clarity without digital embellishment.

The Galilee String Quartet’s London performance showcased the Saad siblings’ blend of western classical elements with Arabic musical traditions, shifting from Webern to improvisatory pieces incorporating voice, percussion and oud. While their original compositions, especially Gandhi Saad’s Sama’l Eitab, revealed expressive depth and the ensemble’s complex artistic identity, several arrangements and the Webern opener were criticized for weak execution and missed potential.

Gabriela Montero delivered a Spanish‑themed recital at Milton Court highlighting works by Scarlatti, Liszt, Albéniz and others with clear, fluid playing and vivid characterisation. The programme’s many short pieces created a sense of postcard‑like Spain, but her improvisations, including transformations of ABBA’s Mamma Mia and the Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun, provided a lively and inventive conclusion that delighted the audience.

O/Modernt’s Wigmore Hall programme juxtaposed works by Auerbach, Golijov, Mahler and Janáček, creating an intense sequence of musical reflections on suffering, love and spiritual energy. Auerbach’s reimagined Pergolesi opened with spectral textures, followed by Golijov’s clarinet-driven exploration of Jewish history featuring Christoffer Sundqvist’s commanding performance. Mahler’s Adagietto provided emotional release before Janáček’s Intimate Letters, expanded for string orchestra by Hugo Ticciati, concluded the concert with visceral energy and expressive force.

Opening concerts at Oxford’s new Schwarzman Centre showcased the Sohmen Concert Hall’s impressive acoustics through performances by the Scottish Ensemble, while the Great Hall featured Es Devlin and Nico Muhly’s 360 Vessels installation, whose ritualistic concept failed to achieve the intended spiritual impact. The centre is celebrated as a major cultural addition, though some elements of the inaugural programme drew criticism.

Critics highlight standout concerts in the 2026 Proms season, ranging from intimate baroque performances and a significant focus on Berlioz to new works by living composers including Jessie Montgomery, Brett Dean and Thea Musgrave. Major milestones for Steve Reich and György Kurtág are marked with dedicated performances, while star soloists such as Martha Argerich and Vilde Frang feature prominently. Opera offerings include Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Weber’s Oberon, with notable appearances by leading orchestras and conductors across the season.

Elgar’s Serenade for Strings opened the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic concert with understated delicacy before Mark Simpson’s The Immortal delivered an overpowering, densely textured evocation of Victorian occultism featuring amplified voices and disorienting orchestral layers. Despite Daniela Candillari’s controlled conducting, the episodic oratorio offered little cohesion. Sibelius’s Second Symphony followed with polished moments but insufficient buildup or dramatic tension, leaving the concert poised between life‑and‑death themes without fully achieving either.

A new staging of Handel’s Imeneo in Cambridge highlights the opera’s playful, self‑referential character, blending meta‑theatrical humor with elegant period aesthetics. The production integrates musicians into the action, uses minimal but inventive props, and features strong vocal performances led by Ellie Neate, Lisa Dafydd, Bethany Horak‑Hallett, Timothy Nelson, and Trevor Eliot Bowes. Despite some opening‑night orchestral hesitancy, Julian Perkins’s musical direction supports a witty, nuanced reading that transforms this rarely performed operetta into a vibrant main‑stage event.