Making a landmark debut as Wagner’s Isolde in Barcelona, the Norwegian star showed why she is the world’s most in-demand singer

The great Eric Lu plays Schubert and two world-class ensembles take on Mendelssohn in the best classical gems on CD, on air and online

A witty, joyous tribute to the late pianist was an I-spy of outstanding talents, featuring his own cellist son, Simon Rattle and Harriet Walter

A supernatural oratorio, a Hokusai-inspired opera and a world premiere by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood are among the year’s highlights

Fiona Maddocks on 2025’s best premieres and most popular composers

Christophe Rousset conducts the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists with Gallic flair

From Tchaikovsky to Fats Waller, there are seasonal songs to suit every mood

The Royal Opera goes grunge in a bold telling of the Nirvana frontman's final moments

A youthful, spirited staging of Janáček’s folk-inflected opera shows the enduring brilliance of the UK’s teaching institutions

Plus, Voces8 brings viewers carols to stream from the sofa

A zippy revival of the 1730 comedy, set in the 1920s, bursts with absurdism and a crazed energy. Plus, Wagner is transported to a big tech dystopia in Bastille

A zippy revival of the 1730 comedy, set in the 1920s, bursts with absurdism and a crazed energy. Plus, Wagner is transported to a big tech dystopia in Bastille

Our critic picks five cultural highlights, whether you have five minutes, an hour or a whole day to spare

Katie Mitchell’s update of Janáček’s tale about a 337-year-old provoked boos from some reactionary audience members. Plus: The Railway Children and Dead Man Walking go from screen and page to stage

New works by or about women powered this year’s Oxford Song festival, tackling everything from Ireland’s Magdalene laundries to the heroines of Iranian myth

Verdi’s Le Trouvère, transported to the Spanish civil war, is just one of the powerfully sung surprises at the Irish waterfront party

Albert Herring is a subversive portrait of stuffy postwar England

The virtuosic string ensemble explored these ambitious themes through ideas of memory

The young composer’s inventive new work at Peckham’s Bold Tendencies is unlike anything but itself. Plus, an epic Verdi boasts a starry cast

Music and politics meet in a stripped-back Puccini in Jakub Hrůsä’s ROH debut