Handel with Hammond organ and hand claps. Scatting and swing. Five saxophones – this is Messiah, but not perhaps as you know it. Marin Alsop’s Gospel Messiah had its European premiere at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 December, ahead of a broadcast on BBC Radio 3

Marin Alsop led the orchestra through lively performances of Bartók, Prokofiev and Dvořák, full of rhythmic drive, as well as the UK premiere of Hannah Eisendle’s evocative Heliosis

It’s hosted opera greats, suffragette rallies, Hitchcock films, sports events, sci-fi conventions – and, of course, the Proms and countless rock gigs. Artists from Led Zeppelin to Abba recall their moments on the hallowed stage

Anna Clyne’s impressive new work is a cello concerto inspired by Persian poetry and outshining the familiar Elgar work in Inbal Segev’s performance

Erkki-Sven Tüür’s climate change protest and Andriessen’s Homeric musical story were the highlights of a varied and challenging opening night for the new music festival

Composer, conductor, inspiration, FBI suspect … Leonard Bernstein was born 100 years ago this August, and this summer’s Proms will celebrate his work. Musicians, critics and his own family remember an astounding talent

Marin Alsop commands an army of performers including the National Youth Orchestra and a marching band as they tackle Bernstein’s uneven period piece

Marin Alsop and the London Symphony begin a centenary tribute to the great composer, conductor and educator with an eloquent examination of his questioning symphonies

Marin Alsop inspired individuality and panache, and led a zinging European premiere of a special John Adams work

Marin Alsop led the São Paulo Symphony in bright, idiomatic performances of the Brazilians Nobre and Villa-Lobos, but there were longueurs elsewhere

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra/Alsop
(NAXOS)

Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s approach is unconventional and Marin Alsop and the OAE backed her all the way, but her unmediated intensity brought Kurtág and Schumann’s music alive

The exemplary UK premiere of James MacMillan’s apocalyptic scene was followed by angelic visions and a high-voltage blaze of optimism