Robert Henke CBM 8032, Barbican - a vision of possibilities from 40 years ago

★★★★ ROBERT HENKE CBM 8032, BARBICAN A vision of possibilities from 40 years ago

Advanced music and visuals coming from primitive technology

Robert Henke is to techno fans as Leo Fender and Les Paul are to rock lovers. The Ableton Live software which he co-created is every bit as influential as any guitar they built, and probably more used. However, of course, being just a piece of code, it could never be iconic like a guitar. This performance was partly inspired by that fact: as Henke explained in his preamble, he's fascinated with a time when computers were a whole lot simpler and, perhaps, cooler to look at.

CD: Function - Existenz

★★★★ FUNCTION - EXISTENZ Magnum opus from the shadowy corners of New York and Berlin

Magnum opus from long-established staple of shadowy corners of New York and Berlin

There couldn't be much that's more techno than for a musician to have had a quarter-century career, only just be releasing his second solo album, and making it a quadruple.

Tetzlaff, Nelsen, Philharmonia, Salonen, RFH review - spider's webs and silk sheets

★★★★★ TETZLAFF, NELSEN, PHILHARMONIA, SALONEN, RFH Spider's webs and silk sheets

The Weimar Berlin series concludes with a quartet of well-contrasted stunners

You can't expect a full house when the only work approaching a repertoire staple on your programme is Berg's Lulu Suite. Yet Esa-Pekka Salonen was able to serve up what must count as one of the most enthralling Philharmonia programmes ever at the Southbank Centre simply by spotlighting four different styles surfacing in the anything-goes musical world of Weimar Germany.

Bauhaus 100, BBC Four review - a well-made film about the makers

★★★★ BAUHAUS 100, BBC FOUR A fascinating centenary tale of God-like architects and punks

A fascinating centenary tale of God-like architects and punks

The Bauhaus school and its subsequent influence make an extraordinary story, and this film by Mat Whitecross, which has assembled a whole range of different voices and perspectives and woven them together, told it well.

Blu-ray: People on Sunday

★★★★★ BLU-RAY: PEOPLE ON SUNDAY Groundbreaking 1929 Berlin film by Hollywood's future talent

Groundbreaking 1929 Berlin film by Hollywood's future talent

Weimar Germany produced some extraordinary cinema, with Pabst, Murnau, Fritz Lang and others creating a language that transformed the medium and is still a core reference today. People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag), a silent film made in 1929, entirely on location – itself unusual at the time – features a team that would make tracks once established in Hollywood.

Philharmonia, Salonen, RFH review – bittersweet Berlin

★★★★ PHILHARMONIA, SALONEN, RFH Weimar series kicks off with comedy, joy - and pain

A Weimar culture series kicks off with comedy, joy – and pain

Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia kicked off their series of concerts devoted to the edgy culture of the Weimar Republic with a programme that featured three works (out of four) derived in some way from the musical stage. That included, as a rip-roaring finale, the conclusion to Shostakovich’s football-themed ballet from 1930, The Golden Age. Given the theatrical energy that drove the evening along at the Royal Festival Hall, it felt at the outset slightly disappointing that we would see no (non-musical) drama on stage.

Igor Levit, Wigmore Hall review – full-spectrum Bach from a prodigious talent

★★★★★ IGOR LEVIT, WIGMORE HALL Full-spectrum Bach from a prodigious talent

The Russian-born Berliner delivers gripping pianistic theatre

You seldom hear a Champions League-level roar of approval at the Wigmore Hall. Last night, though, Igor Levit drew a throaty collective bark of appreciation from the audience after (for once) an awed hush had followed the final dying cadences of the aria’s return in Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Had he earned it? Absolutely. This recital was first of three devoted to the idea of Variations. Friday will see Levit play Beethoven’s Diabelli set, and Frederic Rzewski’s mighty deconstruction of the revolutionary anthem “The People United Will Never Be Defeated”.