Guardian Music — Barbican, LondonValery Gergiev chose Stravinsky's 1948 Mass setting to fire the starting gun for his week-long Stravinsky festival. An interesting choice for portraying variegations in the composer's diverse stylistic spectrum, the Mass isn't really ... more info

Guardian Music — Cvilak/Bostridge/Noseda/Keenlyside/LSO and Chorus/Choir of Eltham College (LSO Live, 2CDs)Released to mark the 50th anniversary of the War Requiem's premiere, this was recorded during a series of Barbican concerts last autumn. The conductor is Giana... more info

Guardian Music — Young musicians auditioned online to join Aldeburgh's world ensemble for Olympic Games festivalAn international orchestra will be born this summer when musicians meet for the first time in a rehearsal hall on the Suffolk coast. In an unprecedented mo... more info

Guardian Music — Barbican, LondonPerformances of Weber's Gothic tale of demonic pacts and shooting trials have become few and far between, so we should be grateful to Colin Davis for presenting it in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. He feels great fondness... more info

Guardian Music — Barbican, LondonPerformances of Mahler's Third Symphony may not be as rare as they used to be, but each one is still an event, and a challenge for any conductor. Semyon Bychkov made his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra two years ago, and an i... more info

Guardian Music — Rochester Philharmonic/Seaman (Harmonia Mundi)With the chimes of Big Ben rising through the fog of the soft-footed opening bars, Vaughan Williams's London Symphony sings of a city still recognisable, however dramatic the changes since its 1914 premie... more info

Guardian Music — Symphony Hall, BirminghamThe prospering closeness between the Hallé and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is proving to everyone's advantage. Here was the Hallé giving a concert in Symphony Hall while Andris Nelsons and his orchestra contin... more info

Guardian Music — Two-and-a-half-hour production to close London 2012 will be 'elegant mash-up of British music', says creator Kim GavinFresh from flipping her middle finger at the Brits and breaking sales records on both sides of the Atlantic, a ubiquitous 23-year-ol... more info

Guardian Music — Orchestra says it will battle elements and noise in central London to bring music to widest possible audienceIt may turn out to be a titanic battle with unpredictable elements and noisy traffic but the London Symphony Orchestra was confident of succe... more info

Guardian Music — First of annual outdoor concerts by LSO and young musicians to take place in central London on 12 MayThere have been operas, riots, movies, even a maze there, but this might well be the first time a full symphony orchestra has pitched camp in Trafalg... more info