The violinist leads an unsparing assault of pieces from Biber’s dissonant Battalia à 10 to Ustvolskaya’s Composition No 2 as sirens bellow and metronomes tick down our existence

Two tragic new operas, Mussorgsky with bells on and rousing community endeavours inspired and moved, while ENO hit highs despite a year of turmoil

With a stand-in conductor and a stellar cast, Berlioz’s monumental opera came into its own at the Proms; the BBC Symphony Orchestra let Bruckner’s colours unfurl; and Aurora’s Stravinsky played from memory proved unforgettable

The power, rhythmic complexity and virtuosity of Stravinsky’s 1913 work raised the bar for orchestral music. To perform it requires high-wire concentration. And to perform it from memory…? Aurora Orchestra’s conductor on recapturing the thrill of a piece once deemed unplayable

There was nowhere to hide in this compelling reading of the Russian composer’s 14th symphony, the centrepiece of a programme that also featured Mahler and Britten

Kings Place’s year-long celebration of the capital’s musical past kicks off with Mendelssohn in Camberwell…

Richard Ayres’s complex Beethoven tribute had real emotional power, while the latter’s Seventh symphony – performed from memory – was a joyous celebration of energy

Despite some last-minute substitutions, this Britten concert – and premiere of Josephine Stephenson’s stetting of Rimbaud’s Une Saison en Enfer – was performed at full strength

Berlioz’s music - and the man himself - is brought to colourful life in a rip-roaring performance of his Symphonie Fantastique

Was it all a dream in Opera North’s new Magic Flute? And songs from the road with Aurora Orchestra

Pierre-Laurent Aimard was joined by violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and others for exceptional performances of György Ligeti’s late works

The Aurora took Beethoven for a walk and talk; actor Rory Kinnear played Proms founder Henry Wood; and pianist Beatrice Rana shone with Schumann

A virtuoso turn from Mary Bevan as a girl taught to sing by beasts animated Richard Ayres’ kitsch mountain melodrama, followed by the orchestra’s latest exhilarating symphony from memory