Johann Ludwig Bach: The Leipzig Cantatas album review – this distant cousin’s music is a remarkable discovery

This is the premiere recording of sacred cantatas by JL Bach: works preserved due to his distant cousin, JS Bach, copying them for performance. Conductor Johanna Soller brings them to sensitive and vivid life

Saul review – Purves didn’t just chew the scenery, he swallowed it whole

The London Handel festival opened with Arcangelo’s agile and elegant performance of the operatic oratorio. Christopher Purves dominated as the king, as David, Hugh Cutting’s voice was liquid honey

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny review – big and brash staging for Brecht and Weill’s whisky-soaked dystopia

Jamie Manton’s new production for English National Opera is sparky and substantial. Danielle de Niese brings star quality to tarty Jenny, and the chorus are consistently superb

BBCSO/ Rustioni/ Davóne Tines review – Black-tinged Anthem spins US nationhood

The UK premiere of a stirring joint concerto by five US artists refashioned patriotic songs, minstrelsy and poetry to present an alternative America built on inclusion

The Great Wave review – Hokusai opera sounds and looks beautiful but skimps on drama

There are strong performances and much to admire in Dai Fujikura and Harry Ross’s opera about the Japanese artist, but it feels strangely inert

Ensemble Intercontemporain: Unsuk Chin album review – rich and strange music of kaleidoscopic colours

Berlin-based Chin’s intricate music is performed with panache in this disc of three of her orchestral works

Handel: Sosarme album review – Marco Angioloni makes the case for this little-known work

Doubling as vocalist and conductor, Angiolini is joined by fine singers in this rarely recorded late work. Giacomo Nanni’s sonorous ‘Fra l’ombre e gl’orrori’ is a particular highlight

LPO/Benjamin review – music of crystalline clarity and hedonistic pleasure

George Benjamin conducted this meticulously programmed and beautifully executed concert of his own Palimpsests alongside music by Scriabin, Stravinsky and Ravel

The Testament of Ann Lee with Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried review – yelps, bells and bruised beauty

Live on stage the Oscar-winning composer’s score is disorientating, ecstatic and strange. Its star, Amanda Seyfried’s pure voice is the anchor in a brief but absorbing set

LSO / Chan / Stankiewicz review – Matthews’s oboe concerto is dense and dynamic

The London Symphony Orchestra’s Olivier Stankiewicz was the soloist for the premiere of Colin Matthews’s oboe concerto; Rachmaninov and Bartók followed, with Chan compelling and clear

Così Fan Tutte review – witty circus staging has its tongue firmly in its cheek

Phelim McDermott’s 2014 production addresses the cynicism, cruelty and outdated sexual politics of Mozart’s opera with humour and sass; a strong cast make this an enjoyable evening

Winter Olympics 2026 opening ceremony review – disco-dancing opera masters upstage Mariah Carey

Carey was the big draw at Milan’s San Siro, but she was outweighed by pop-classical artists – and a sizeable dollop of kitsch

Classical Mixtape: A Live Takeover review – one queue after another mars orchestral jamboree

Six world-class orchestras in one night sounds like a surefire hit – but the programming was uninspired and there was far too much standing in line

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi review – big, generous, provocative music-making on a small stage

Grammy-winning Giddens fused folk, opera, jazz, pop and classical elements in a recital ‘honouring composers who don’t often get called composers’

Amidst the Shades album review – Ruby Hughes’ captivating Dowland tribute is steeped in delicious melancholy

Joined by lutenist Nordberg and Brinkmann’s viola da gamba, the soprano’s homage to the Renaissance composer is captivating and persuasive