Guardian Music — Royal Albert Hall, LondonThe theme of this BBC Symphony Orchestra Prom, according to its conductor David Robertson, was "the notion of reflection and questioning", an accurate if ambiguous description. Robertson opened with Ives's The Unanswered Ques... more info

Guardian Music — Classical music is still banned, censored or denied mainstream approval in some parts of the world – and yet it is loved by millions, writes Iranian-born musician Mahan EsfahaniThis summer, BBC Persian's television service is broadcasting eight of ... more info

Guardian Music — Royal Albert Hall, LondonTo hear Land of Hope and Glory at the Royal Albert Hall in July seemed wrong. It was as though summer had simply been abandoned. Anyone casually tuning in to the first night of the 2012 BBC Proms may have been confused. Had w... more info

Guardian Music — City Halls, GlasgowOver the last few seasons, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has commissioned four composers to write short companion pieces for Brahms's four symphonies. They have produced fascinatingly varied responses, from Matthias Pintscher... more info

Guardian Music — Coliseum, LondonRichard Strauss's lavish romantic comedy returns to the Coliseum in David McVicar's much travelled production, an entirely traditional presentation of a piece that revels in the nostalgic glamour of Vienna in its 18th-century heyday. ... more info

Guardian Music — Queen Elizabeth Hall, LondonBerlioz's oratorio challenges conceptions of the composer as an exponent of the gargantuan and the emotionally extreme. Scored for relatively modest choral and orchestral forces, its gestures tend to be small and intimate,... more info

Guardian Music — Sadler's Wells, LondonWayne McGregor's work always comes surrounded with a dense scaffolding of theory. His latest, a collaboration with Mark Wallinger and Mark-Anthony Turnage, is no exception. Choreography and music for UNDANCE have been inspired b... more info

Guardian Music — Royal Albert Hall, LondonColin Davis recently likened conducting Beethoven's Missa Solemnis to "failing to reach the top of Mount Everest". Ranked among the grandest of human confrontations with the idea of God, the score was the product of immense s... more info

Guardian Music — Royal Albert Hall, LondonMendelssohn's iconic oratorio, beloved of UK audiences since its Birmingham premiere in 1846, fell from critical favour with the passing of the Victorian era. George Bernard Shaw was scathing about the composer's "despicable ... more info

Guardian Music — Connolly/Rysanov/BBCSO/Gardner(Chandos)Most people will, I suspect, be drawn to this disc by the thought of Sarah Connolly singing Phaedra, the cantata that Britten wrote in 1975 for Janet Baker, with whom Connolly has often been compared. And she is... more info