Karen Cargill, Simon Lepper, Wigmore Hall review - opulence within bounds

★★★ KAREN CARGILL, SIMON LEPPER, WIGMORE HALL This mezzo in a thousand needs more pianistic help to soar

Classy subtleties, but this mezzo in a thousand needs more pianistic help to soar

Singing satirist Anna Russell placed the French chanson in her category of songs for singers "with no voice but tremendous artistry". Mezzo Karen Cargill has tremendous artistry but also a very great voice indeed, a mysterious gift which makes her one in a thousand, and also rather good French (put that down to Scotland's "Auld Alliance, perhaps).

Chopin's Piano, Tiberghien, Kildea, Brighton Festival review - mumbled words, magical music

★★★ CHOPIN'S PIANO, TIBERGHIEN, KILDEA, BRIGHTON FESTIVAL Mumbled words, magical music

French pianist runs the gamut of colour and expression, but the framework's shaky

First the good news: Cédric Tiberghien, master of tone colour, lucidity and expressive intent, playing the 24 Chopin Preludes plus the Bach C major and the C minor Nocturne in the red-gold dragons' den of the Royal Pavilion's Music Room.

The Woman in White, Series Finale, BBC One review - good-looking, but flat

★★★ THE WOMAN IN WHITE, BBC ONE Frisson lost in Wilkie Collins adaptation

Frisson lost in Wilkie Collins adaptation low on individuality, drama

Much has been made of this adaptation of The Woman in White having an especial relevance for our times. Its concern with the power dynamics of gender relations was certainly hammered home right from the beginning, as Jessie Buckley uttered its loaded opening question, “How is it men crush women time and time again and go unpunished?”, effectively delivered to us, the audience, to boot.

Pianist Christopher Glynn on Schubert in English: 'this new translation never walks on stilts'

PIANIST CHRISTOPHER GLYNN ON SCHUBERT IN ENGLISH Working with Roderick Williams and Jeremy Sams on 'Winter Journey'

On working with Roderick Williams and Jeremy Sams on 'Winter Journey'

The idea for a new translation of Schubert's Winterreise came from an old recording. Harry Plunket Greene was nearly 70 (and nearly voiceless) when he entered the studio in 1934 and sang "Der Leiermann," the final song of the cycle, in English (as "The Hurdy-Gurdy Man") into a closely-placed microphone. But the result is unforgettable - a haunting performance of the most mysterious soliloquy in all music, given by an old singer nearing the end of his own road.

Rodin and the Art of Ancient Greece, British Museum review - magnificence of form across the millennia

★★★★★ RODIN AND THE ART OF ANCIENT GREECE, BRITISH MUSEUM Magnificence of form across the millennia

A game-changing exhibition illuminates the great sculptor and his links to antiquity

In bronze, marble, stone and plaster, as far as the eye can see, powerful figures and fragments – divine and human, mythological and real; athletes, soldiers and horses alongside otherworldly creatures like Centaurs – stride out. They pose, re-pose, twist, turn and captivate as that 19th century sculptor of genius, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), encountered and absorbed, with such sensual pleasure, the art of antiquity.

Eugene Onegin, Scottish Opera review - sweepingly sumptuous Tchaikovsky

  ★★★★★ EUGENE ONEGIN, SCOTTISH OPERA Sweepingly sumptuous Tchaikovsky

Evocative staging coupled with glorious music-making highlight power and passion

It’s 25 years since Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin last came to the Scottish Opera stage, and this brand new production, directed by Oliver Mears, DIrector of Opera at The Royal Opera, gives the stirring score a stately yet elusive grandeur.

Monet and Architecture, National Gallery review - a revelation in paint

The king of the blockbuster seen in a new light

Art historians can so easily get carried away looking for a thesis, a scaffolding on which to hang theories which can sometimes obscure as much as reveal. Not so here: as near perfect as might be imagined, this is a beautifully laid out, fresh look at a master painter, that lights up the National Gallery's basement exhibition space.

Dickson, SCO, Swensen, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh review - world premiere of a bold new work

★★★★★ DICKSON, SCO, SWENSEN, QUEEN'S HALL World premiere of a bold new work

James MacMillan takes the saxophone into uncharted territory

It’s as intricate as it is concise. The depth to the architecture of James MacMillan’s Saxophone Concerto – which was given its world premiere this week by saxophonist Amy Dickson and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra – is quite astounding, and all the more so for being packed into three five-minute movements.

Robin Ticciati on conducting Brahms: 'trying to understand the man through his music'

ROBIN TICCIATI ON CONDUCTING BRAHMS 'Trying to understand the man through his music'

A masterclass in the preparation and performance of a great symphony

Edinburgh, October 2015. Robin Ticciati is still flying high from a remarkable performance of Brahms's First Symphony, the start of an intended cycle with his Scottish Chamber Orchestra in his seventh season as principal conductor. After a revelatory dissection of the thinking that shaped the interpretation, we both look forward to the end of the experience later in the season, with the Fourth.