Guardian Music — Jonathan Dove invites suggestions for subject of pieceWhen Edward Elgar composed his Enigma Variations, he created lasting musical portraits of several of the people he was close to. Picking out themes to describe the anonymous characters of Nimrod o... more info

Guardian Music — Symphony Hall, BirminghamOliver Knussen reaches 60 this year, and the British orchestras with whom he regularly works are queuing up to celebrate. The latest in line was the City of Birmingham Symphony for whom Knussen devised a programme that fram... more info

Guardian Music — Jean-Efflam Bavouzet(Chandos, Three CDs)There are any number of ways of navigating a route through Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas on disc, but after his series devoted to Haydn and Debussy, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is opting for the most straightforward, a... more info

Guardian Music — Rafał Blechacz (Deutsche Grammophon)The young Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz won all five first prizes in the Warsaw Chopin piano competition in 2005 but has since been in and out of the limelight: this finely characterised recital will surely plac... more info

Guardian Music — Van Raat/Austbo(Naxos)Debussy's two-piano masterpiece and Messiaen's devotional cycle make a logical pairing. Both were composed during wartime: En Blanc et Noir dates from 1915 and its central movement is dedicated to a French officer killed in acti... more info

Guardian Music — From choral monsters to period-instrument Debussy, Andrew Clements picks his highlights of this year's Proms concertsThe BBC always keeps its secrets better than most where the contents of the Proms are concerned, so that each year's programme announ... more info

Guardian Music — Festival's 118th season also features Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra's Beethoven cycle and marks Delius, Debussy and John Cage anniversaries.All of Beethoven's symphonies are to be performed in their entirety at the BBC Proms for the firs... more info

Guardian Music — Wigmore Hall, LondonThough Sandrine Piau has made her career as a baroque and classical specialist, in recent years the French soprano has been attempting to move her voice forward into later repertory as well. In this long and ambitious programme co... more info

Guardian Music — Wigmore Hall, LondonThe Tokyo String Quartet make a fabulous sound: rich, bright and ripely resonant. Their performances have the reassuring momentum one expects of a well-upholstered limousine cornering at high speed, with Martin Beaver's first ... more info

Guardian Music — Wigmore Hall, LondonThe American-born, London-based Mark Swartzentruber is a well-known teacher as well as a pianist, whose intellectual rigour and sense of thoroughness define him as a performer. A fine technician, he can be a dispassionate player, ... more info