Ragged Music Festival review - musical utopia in an East End schoolroom

★★★★★ RAGGED MUSIC FESTIVAL Musical utopia in an East End schoolroom

Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy hit heights and depths with four remarkable guests

A muse of fire descended on the top floor of a former warehouse in the East End, unextinguished by the rain which fell almost continuously outside during the four stupendous concerts – three advertised, one a generous bonus – of the Ragged Music Festival.

Istanbul International Music Festival online review – East-West flair and finesse

ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL Turkish soloists and orchestras in fine fettle and spectacular venues

Turkish soloists and orchestras in fine fettle and spectacular venues

Salzburg, Verbier and other high-end festivals have scraped together reduced, still impressive programmes over the summer for consumption online. Not so starrily cast but hardly less engaging in situ is the adapted offering from Istanbul, mixing local and international artists, chamber and orchestral concerts with a flair that belies its reputation on the fringe of the major music festivals.

Castalian Quartet/Elizabeth Llewellyn, Simon Lepper, Wigmore Hall review - out of this world

★★★★ CASTALIAN QUARTET / ELIZABETH LLEWELLYN, SIMON LEPPER, WIGMORE HALL From the earthy to the sublime

A young string quartet and a glorious duo take us from the earthy to the sublime

Songs of the beyond versus the profundity of the here and now struck very different depths in the Castalians’ evening concert at the Wigmore Hall and Elizabeth Llewellyn’s recital with equal partner Simon Lepper the following lunchtime. It was good to have the very human anchoring of Haydn’s “Emperor” Quartet, Op. 76 No.

A London Saturday with Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Pavel Kolesnikov, Samson Tsoy and friends - review

★★★★★ KANNEH-MASON, FANTASIA ORCHESTRA/TSOY, TRIO AVENTURE From a Dvořák concerto debut in Kensington to piano and strings in a Peckham car park

From a Dvořák concerto debut in a Kensington church to trios in a Peckham car park

Even bigger things have happened to Sheku Kanneh-Mason since I last saw him performing alongside his contemporaries in the Fantasia Orchestra – That Royal Wedding, for instance, and a Decca contract. Yet it looks like he will always have the wisdom to hurry slowly.

Igor Levit, Wigmore Hall/Hill Quartet, Bandstand Chamber Festival review – seamlessness inside and out

★★★★★ IGOR LEVIT, WIGMORE HALL / HILL QUARTET, BANDSTAND CHAMBER FESTIVAL Total fluency from the great pianist and a young team already rich in wisdom

Total fluency from the great pianist and a young team already rich in wisdom

An early hero of lockdown, livestreaming from his Berlin home in terrible sound at first, Igor Levit is a supreme example of how adaptable musicians can survive in times like these.

Maggini Quartet/Friend, Solem Quartet, Bandstand Chamber Festival review - in harmony with nature

★★★★ MAGGINI QUARTET / FRIEND, SOLEM QUARTET, BANDSTAND CHAMBER FESTIVAL More cultured beauty from outstanding musicians in the heart of Battersea Park

More cultured beauty from outstanding musicians in the heart of Battersea Park

Music going back to nature, or rather the managed nature of a London park, can make you think and feel quite differently about great composers’ responses to the world around them.

First Person: Artistic Director John Gilhooly on an inclusive and diverse Wigmore Hall

The London venue which kept artists afloat during lockdown reopens tomorrow

It is hard to believe that it’s really happening! Despite a few bumps along the way, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, one of the greatest Lieder duos of our time, will open the 20/21 Wigmore Hall Season tomorrow night in a programme of Schubert and Berg. This is the first of 100 concerts between now and Christmas.

Doric Quartet, Bandstand Chamber Festival, Battersea Park review – radiance on a late summer evening

★★★★★ DORIC QUARTET, BANDSTAND CHAMBER FESTIVAL Radiance on a summer evening

Back before an audience at last, top players engage at the highest level

Wonderful as the livestreamed Proms are for players working together again and for viewers/listeners who wouldn’t be able to get to the Royal Albert Hall even if they could be admitted, I’d sacrifice them all for one evening of live musical communication like this.

BBC Lunchtime Concerts from Glasgow's City Halls, BBC Radio 3 review - a feast for ears if not for eyes

★★★★ BBC LUNCHTIME CONCERTS, GLASGOW CITY HALLS / RADIO 3 Four very special live broadcasts from Scottish artists

Four very special live broadcasts from Scottish artists

After the success of BBC Radio 3’s live lunchtime broadcasts from the Wigmore Hall, live music is now kicking off again north of the border, with four concerts broadcast from City Halls, Glasgow, presented by Kate Molleson.

This House is Full of Music, Imagine..., BBC One review – a spring dream of a lockdown concert

★★★★ IMAGINE... THIS HOUSE IS FULL OF MUSIC, BBC ONE Sheku Kanneh-Mason is only first among equals in this perfect home recital

Sheku Kanneh-Mason is only first among equals in this perfect home recital

No happy family, surely, was ever quite like this one. Love and mutual respect bound up with music-making at the highest level make the Kanneh-Masons of Nottingham a role-model for this country in times of trouble, with their reiterated message that music is for everyone, something to be shared at every level.