Detroit Free Press — At first glance, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's program of music by Bela Bartok, Alexander Glazunov, Erwin Schulhoff and Beethoven doesn't appear to promote any particular theme. more info

Guardian Music — China's growing influence in the world is mirrored by its flourishing classical music sceneThe great Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter is giving a lieder master class to a group of talented young students. She politely berates the accompanyi... more info

Guardian Music — Wigmore Hall, LondonA complete Beethoven cycle in the concert hall is a career-defining challenge for any string quartet. The Belcea Quartet embarked on theirs following the usual pattern of programming one work each from the early, middle and late-p... more info

Guardian Music — Royal Festival Hall, LondonMatthias Pintscher was one of several composers commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2005 to write a short work depicting an asteroid, for performance alongside Holst's The Planets. The idea, if clever, was vaguely g... more info

Guardian Music — Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie/Järvi(RCA)Paavo Järvi's pairing of the Spring and Rhenish symphonies follows recent Schumann cycles from Sakari Oramo and the Stockholm Philharmonic, and Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Järvi's perfo... more info

Guardian Music — The Australian Chamber Orchestra's rock-band verve is bringing a new kind of freedom to the concert hall. Kathy Lette meets its leader, Richard TognettiThe British artistic elite presumes that an Australian's record collection is criminal, not classi... more info

Guardian Music — Elbow commissioned to write BBC Olympic theme tune as plans for Proms, Shakespeare season and Radio 1 event revealedThe BBC will mark next year's Olympics with a star-studded Shakespeare season and three of the biggest music events of 2012 – along ... more info

Guardian Music — Queen Elizabeth Hall, LondonNo one expects a pianist in her early 20s, however prodigiously talented, to be the finished article. Yet Alice Sara Ott's recital was still a bit of a disappointment, not because of any weaknesses in the German-Japanese p... more info

Guardian Music — From Beethoven's letters to Bob Dylan's Chronicles, the musician chooses books that reveal the private lives behind the public melodiesSongwriter, arranger, producer and guitarist Nile Rodgers is one of the most influential pop musicians of the last ... more info

Guardian Music — Wigmore Hall, LondonThough their chamber-music connections are extensive, and they frequently appear in star-studded ensembles, the Capuçon brothers – violinist Renaud and cellist Gautier – most regularly play with pianist Frank Braley. Together... more info