Stevie Wonder, Hyde Park BST Festival

STEVIE WONDER, HYDE PARK BEST FESTIVAL Masterful four-hour show from a genius of popular music

Masterful four-hour show from a genius of popular music

Sixty-five thousand people came to Wonder. The final night of British Summer Time in Hyde Park was a sell-out. With a performance lasting four hours including an intermission, the Detroit-born legend and his band – and also the weather, which stayed fine all evening - can have left nobody disappointed. The show, based on the album Songs in the Key of Life, with some extra off-piste excursions, was thoroughly convincing live. It just works very well, and on several levels. 

Walk Off The Earth, 02 Academy Brixton

WALK OFF THE EARTH, 02 ACADEMY BRIXTON An authentic and endearing set from a self-made internet sensation

An authentic and endearing set from a self-made internet sensation

For a self-made band that found success via the creation of quirky, imaginative YouTube videos spread via social media, there's a level of expectation regarding the same kind of creativity in their live shows. But in  fact Canadian indie band Walk Off The Earth's REVO tour experience is a very simple one. 

Pat Metheny, Ronnie Scott's

PAT METHENY, RONNIE SCOTT'S A sublime performance from a jazz guitar legend

A sublime performance from a jazz guitar legend

£100 – £175 is a lot of money to pay for two hours of music, but that’s what it cost to see Pat Metheny at Ronnie Scott’s this week. The guitar great is in town with his new quartet, a dream team comprising British pianist Gwilym Simcock, bassist Linda Oh (a major name on the New York scene who I first saw performing with Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas’ Sound Prints quintet) and drummer Antonio Sánchez, a long-time Metheny collaborator and the composer of the acclaimed score to Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman.

Siegfried, Opera North, Southbank Centre

SIEGFRIED, OPERA NORTH, SOUTHBANK CENTRE A star soprano shines in the Ring’s conversation piece

A star soprano shines in the Ring’s conversation piece

For some of us, Siegfried is a perfect opera. Like L.627 it stubbornly observes the Aristotelian rules of space and time to cut a generous slice of life. There are almost no set-pieces to break the flow of one-on-one conversations, accusations, confessions, arguments. These encounters are inevitably stifled by a concert staging, where singers address themselves to us, never to each other. Peter Mumford’s video projections set the scene with trees and glowing embers like a piece of slow TV on YouTube or BBC4.

Don Giovanni, Classical Opera, Page, Cadogan Hall

A dramatic account, demonstrating that period instruments can still surprise in Mozart

Mozart operas on period instruments – it’s hardly a new idea, but it’s still the exception rather than the rule. The 18th–century sound has a lot to offer in Don Giovanni, as Ian Page and his Classical Opera Company demonstrated this evening. Clear string tone and vibrant woodwind colours were the order of the day. There was plenty of drama too, with Page expertly pacing the narrative and drawing an impressive and often robust tone from his modest forces. He also assembled a fine cast, no superstars here but rather a well-balanced and well-integrated ensemble.

The Switch House, Tate Modern

THE SWITCH HOUSE, TATE MODERN Magnificent new extension has light and space enough for new art and new visitors

Magnificent new extension has light and space enough for new art and new visitors

Here comes the Switch House. The 10-story new build attached to the Gilbert Scott Bankside power station that was the first instalment of Tate Modern in 2000 opened to the public this weekend. Tate Modern’s expansion became almost a necessity as the original estimate of two million annual visitors became five million.

Marx: Genius of the Modern World, BBC Four

MARX: GENIUS OF THE MODERN WORLD, BBC FOUR Bettany Hughes probes the legacy of the co-author of the Communist Manifesto

Bettany Hughes probes the legacy of the co-author of the Communist Manifesto

An old subversive Soviet joke has Karl Marx coming back from hell, facing enormous crowds of very unhappy people and telling them, "Oh I'm so sorry – it was only an idea." But what an idea and ideas, as Bettany Hughes's film reminded us. 

Steve Earle and Shawn Colvin, Union Chapel

Crooked harmonies from alt-country heroes

The Union Chapel is packed – upstairs and down, and the two of them emerge through a backstage curtain, step up to the mics and sing The Everly Brother’s "Wake Up Little Suzie", which should hit the spot just right, with the sweet-n-sour harmonizing of their voices, Shawn Colvin’s picking technique against Steve Earle’s rhythmic sense behind a guitar, but here and on a few songs through the set, it doesn’t quite get there.

Paul Simon Introduces 'Stranger to Stranger'

PAUL SIMON INTRODUCES 'STRANGER TO STRANGER' Not so crazy after all these years

Not so crazy after all these years

Perhaps as a hopeful harbinger for Paul Simon's new album Stranger to Stranger, Disturbed recently topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart with their flabbergasting version of Simon's 1965 song "The Sound of Silence". However, while vocalist David Draiman could launch a career as a new kind of Wagnerian baritone on the strength of his extraordinary performance, Simon himself is headed in a less stentorian direction.

Jekyll & Hyde, Old Vic

JEKYLL & HYDE, OLD VIC Dance version is loud and brash with all the horror and none of the mystery

Dance version is loud and brash with all the horror and none of the mystery

From time to time theatre managements hit on the idea that danced drama should be part of their remit. Nick Hytner flirted with it at the National in his day with a run of productions for Lloyd Newson and his company DV8. Now Matthew Warchus, his feet barely under the desk at the Old Vic, has commissioned a show from a young choreographer who has Matthew Bourne’s crown in his sights.