Instrument: Viola

The Ligeti Quartet’s new album of music by Anna Meredith features at their launch event at The Leadmill, Sheffield, but a performance of Ligeti’s First String Quartet steals the limelight.

****1

An uneven mix with animation by the St Luke’s Chamber Ensemble

Kurt Gottschalk, 16 Mar

A program of works for soloists and small ensembles proves aurally and visually taxing, emotionally and intellectually exhausting, all in fairly enticing ways.

***11

San Francisco Ballet enchants with a winning Giselle

Terez Rose, 24 Feb

The ballet’s second act, following Giselle’s death, is set in a spooky, mystical realm, precisely the kind of thing that so intrigued its 19th century audiences and made this ballet an instant classic.

****1

A spirited celebration by hometown heroes at the Rudolfinum

Frank Kuznik, 16 Feb

The Czech Philharmonic offers a heartfelt tribute to some of the nation's most admired composers with help from contemporary stars.

****1

Polish, but unpolished: uneven Bacewicz and Szymanowski from the BBCSO

Dominic Lowe, 10 Feb

Sakari Oramo presents a pair of Polish symphonies by Bacewicz and Szymanowski, interrupted by Mozart's Sinfonia concertante, but the evening struggles to take off.

***11

Berlioz and Brahms brighten up the Tonhalle

Sarah Batschelet, 27 Jan

The Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich plays Schoenberg's orchestration of Brahms' G minor Piano Quartet, while Antoine Tamestit joins the orchestra as wandering soloist in Berlioz' Harold in Italy.

****1

Performers

Adrion, Gernot Akasaka, Tomoko Arnold, Christiane Aspin, David Auboin, Odile Aucante, Vincent BaMaung, David Baillie, Max Bardenhagen, Boris Barenboim, Michael Beckers, Sophie Berthaud, Lise Bogdanas, Vlad Bonneton, Charlotte Bota, Alexandru-Mihai (Sascha)Boutillier, Arthur Boutin, Julian Braude, Nathan Brown{Viola}, Jonathan Budinstein, Igor Buga, Natalia Buntrock, Barbara Bürger, Sebastian Casimir, Michael Cassidy, Paul Causa, Ettore Caussé, Gérard Chang, Yung-Hsin Charpentier, Marie-Emeline Chilemme, Marie Chorzelski, Krzysztof Christ, Wolfram Clément, Hélène Clément, Maria Coman, Téodor Commin, Duncan Cords, Nicholas Dahlkvist, Lauriane Dambeck, Anya David, Imke Derolez, Béatrice Despeyroux, Violaine Dickinson, Scott Dupuy, Clémence Dussart, Patrick Dutt, Hank Dziadek, Weronika Józefina Evans Kreuzer, Abigail Fang, Luosha Ferrández, Sara Florès, Guillaume Forster, Karen Fourrier, Hortense François, Emmanuel Gabrielsson, Elin Gaspar, Ricardo Gibson, Ruth Gotoh, Mario Groblewski, Ryszard Grohs, Holger Grosz, Amihai Hagen, Veronika Hegemann, Dirk Hertenstein, Veit Benedikt Heumann, Friederike Hickey, Séamus Hillienhoff, Gunther Hinzpeter, Wolfgang Hood, Federico Horejsi-Kiefer, Martina Horwath, Michael Hörnlund, Emilie Hörr-Kalmer, Christiane Imai, Nobuko Improta, Luca Isomura, Kazuhide Jackson, Garfield Jensen, Jossalyn Jivaev, Anton Jones, Rebecca Jurdzinski, Nadine Juárez, Isabel Kabát, Jiři Kam, Ori Kasakawa, Megumi Kim, Jiwon Kim, Kyuhyun Kim, Soh-Yon Knox, Garth Konaka, Mario Konoe, Mayu Konoe, Takehiro Kuen, Christof Kyoungmin Park La Marca, Adrien Landerer, Elmar Lansdowne, Louise Lariviere, Sao Soulez Larsen, Jan Lee, Won-Hee Lobet, Dominique Lubbe, Gareth Ludovisi, Chiara Majoni, Shira Marfaing, Laurent Martin, Jameel Masurenko, Tatjana Maximenko, Grigory McElravy, Sarah Michael, Julie Milojicic, Milan Mitterbauer, Benedict Mitterer, Anita Moorcroft, Annemarie Murakami, Junichiro Mustea, Adrian Mönkemeyer, Nils Nagata, Tetsuumi Neubauer, Paul Neugebauer, Tomasz Newman, Adam Ng, Elaine Ngwenyama, Nokuthula Nirta, Marco Nyman, Emma Nägeli, Manuel Nørgaard, Asbjørn O'Neill, Richard Ogura, Yukiko Ott, David Pagnon, Raphaël Palmen, Alvaro Parisot, Tanguy Park, Hayang Parruitte, Claire Paterson, Douglas Phelps, Cynthia Pinkas, Jiri Popovici, Razvan Poprawski, Barnaba Powell, Vicki Power, Lawrence Racine, Natalie Rallo Muguruza, Maria Rashkovsky, Shiry Reuter, Sophia Richards, John Pickford Richter, Florian Ridout, Timothy Riquelme, Joaquín Risbet, Julie Roberts, Rachel Robertson, Morag Rohde, Hartmut Royer, Vincent Römer, Adam Sachse, Pauline Salas, Alicia Scheili, Dora Schlichtig, Hariolf Schmidt-Martin, Eoin Schneider, Katrin Schwamm, Teresa Schwartz, Felix Sellheim, Konstantin Shaham, Noga Sjögren {viola}, Grop Mikael Sobrinho, Miguel Spitzer, Roman Strasser, Michael Strosser, Geneviève Svensson, Steven Sypniewski, Anna Syrnicki, Łukasz Szumieł, Piotr Tal, Maya Tamestit, Antoine Tautscher-Groh, Holger Tomter, Lars Anders Unknown Upshaw, Stephen Vecchioni, Grégoire Ventris, Rosalind Vicic, Julia Weber, Alice Marie Weischedel, Felix Wernig, Emma Wickert, Eve Willwohl, Andreas Xiang Lyu Yates, Christopher Zander, Christoph Zientara, Paul Zilliacus, Ylvali Zimmermann, Tabea van Keulen, Isabelle van der Giessen, Simone Öhman, Christopher Čepický, Jakub

Instrument: Viola

LondonCastalian String Quartet

TallinnLauri Jõeleht album “Homage To The Golden Era” concert

MalvernEmma Johnson and Friends

AmsterdamViolinist Shin Sihan: Ravel, Milhaud, Antheil and Korngold

GenevaBaroque Contemporain

New York CityJupiter Symphony Chamber Players : Soviet Victims

LondonMark Padmore, Elias String Quartet, Pavel Kolesnikov

All passions spent: Chamayou and the Belcea Quartet

Dynamic Meredith and revelatory Ligeti at Sheffield’s iconic Leadmill

An uneven mix with animation by the St Luke’s Chamber Ensemble

San Francisco Ballet enchants with a winning Giselle

A spirited celebration by hometown heroes at the Rudolfinum

Polish, but unpolished: uneven Bacewicz and Szymanowski from the BBCSO

Berlioz and Brahms brighten up the Tonhalle