Balsom, Daniel, Poster, Britten Sinfonia, Stroman, Milton Court review – kinds of blue

★★★★ BALSOM, DANIEL, POSTER, STROMAN, BRITTEN SYMPHONIA, BARBICAN Kinds of blue

Virtuoso trumpet leads a journey through musical America

Where do you draw – how do you draw? – a credible line between jazz and “classical” music in 20th-century America? With the reliably boundary-busting Britten Sinfonia, trumpeter Alison Balsom mixed and matched works from different formal lineages in her packed programme at Milton Court, “An American Rhapsody”.

Isamu Noguchi, Barbican review – the most elegant exhibition in town

★★★ ISAMU NOGUCHI, BARBICAN The most elegant exhibition in town

A restless spirit who infiltrated many of our lives

Isamu Noguchi may not be a household name, yet one strand of his work is incredibly familiar. In 1951 he visited a lamp factory in Gifu, a Japanese city famous for its paper lanterns. This prompted him to design the lampshades that, for decades, have adorned nearly every student’s bedsit.

The Creation, Academy of Ancient Music, Cummings, Barbican review - back to choral paradise

★★★★ THE CREATION, AAM, CUMMINGS, BARBICAN Back to choral paradise

A joyful and lavish rebirth for Haydn's happy masterpiece

Whatever the upsets and uncertainties of this musical season, the return of choral works at full scale and full power has been an unalloyed joy. And sheer, exhilarated, heaven-storming joy branded the Academy of Ancient Music’s reading of Haydn’s The Creation in the Barbican Hall on Tuesday night.

Nicola Benedetti, Barbican Hall review – from Bach to the Highlands via New Orleans

★★★★ NICOLA BENEDETTI, BARBICAN From Bach to the Highlands via New Orleans

A bold solo voyage through three centuries of violin virtuosity

If a standard-sized recital hall can be a lonely place for a solo violinist, playing an auditorium of Barbican dimensions must feel like crossing a desert under pitiless spotlight sun. Happily, Nicola Benedetti’s prowess as a communicator means that she made those trackless wastes shrink into a shared garden where she, and we, explored her instrument’s many kinds of bloom. Defiantly, a solitary figure in red on the enormous stage, she began her recital with Bach’s D minor partita – and the mighty, earth-moving Chaconne which completes it.

LSO, Rattle, Barbican review - a glimpse into Bruckner’s workshop

★★★★ LSO, RATTLE, BARBICAN A glimpse into Bruckner’s workshop

A compelling case made for each version of the 'Romantic' Symphony

For most Bruckner fans, the multiple editions and revisions of his symphonies are a problem. But Simon Rattle sees it differently; for him every edition offers more music to explore. That was the thinking behind this programme, presenting the Fourth Symphony in one and a half versions, a “discarded” scherzo and finale in the first half, and a complete version in the second.

El Father Plays Himself review – a roller coaster ride of mixed emotions

Making a movie in the Amazon with a drunkard

A young film director writes a script based on his father’s life story and invites his dad to play the part. It’s an interesting gambit, given that the son, Jorge Thielen Armand left Venezuela with his mother at the age of 15 and has not returned since. His father stayed behind, so their relationship has stalled. Can it be reignited?

LSO, Rattle, Barbican review - songs and dances in a room with an audience

★★★★ LSO, RATTLE, BARBICAN Songs and dances in a room with an audience

No doubt about the delight in offering a lively programme in a hall peppered with punters

It began with a sense of wonder, not just from the Barbican's socially distanced audience but also from the stage, at “that sound you make with your hands”, as Simon Rattle put it in what he said was a novelty speech before a performance.

Das Lied von der Erde, Kožená, Staples, LSO, Rattle, Barbican online review - more joy than sorrow

★★★★ DAS LIED VON DER ERDE, KOZENA, STAPLES, LSO, RATTLE, BARBICAN New life around the corner in Mahler’s multi-faceted farewell

New life around the corner in Mahler’s multi-faceted farewell

The drunkard in spring; the lonely man in autumn; the long goodbye. Mahler’s last song-cycle often seems to embody solitude; a resigned, earthly counterpart to the transcendent rapture of his previous work, the Eighth Symphony, as a superstitious talisman to ward off the finality of a Ninth.

Benjamin Grosvenor, Barbican online review - black magic and golden-age gorgeousness

★★★★ BENJAMIN GROSVENOR, BARBICAN Black magic and golden-age gorgeousness

The British pianist's recital beautifully evokes romanticism in isolation

I can’t deny that it’s great to be able to experience a recital by Benjamin Grosvenor live from the Barbican despite lockdown, streamed into your own home.