Twenty-two classical and operatic events from across the UK worth clearing your diary for in September 2026. It goes without saying that none of what follows is exhaustive, more Thoroughly Good.

48 hours in Lahti to hear Sibelius played by a band that knows exactly what to do with it, inside Sibelius Hall, with its studio ambience that takes no prisoners and rewards all. There’s not a great ...

A ten-year plan, not a slogan: Music@Malling’s Thomas Kemp on why ‘growth in every postcode’ needs the arts to be treated as infrastructure. With a new Prime Minister, the political mood music has ...

Nadia Boulanger’s Fantasy for piano and orchestra is an interesting demonstration, and Rachmaninov’s second symphony a solid read. Biased view incoming. Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony is the finest of ...

Britten Sinfonia’s residency is the latest in a run of work across the East of England that demonstrates the ensemble’s commitment to serving its community.

Bruch’s First Violin Concerto, completed in its present form in 1867, is one of the most popular of the romantic concertos — and like its partner in crime written by Mendelssohn forty years earlier, ...

The Royal Philharmonic Society Awards were a stylish affair full of wit, polish and verve. Classical music as self-assured and defiant. There’s still work to be done, and a timely message for some to ...

Out of all this year’s Proms, Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F major is the most problematic. The sound is immediate. We’re all made to feel included. The inattentive will finish the work feeling ...

Dani Howard’s Concerto for Brass, SIGNAL, is a must-listen. Howard’s writing engages and delivers every time. Her trombone concerto for Peter Moore, premiered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic ...

The pre-publicity for Saturday Night Live UK was considerable, as were the detractors on social media for the first broadcast. It shone, as it turned out. Overnights reveal a total of 226K viewers.

Horowitz’s latest whodunnit feels like Agatha Christie lost in the jungle — a sleek, sharply plotted puzzle where everyone’s a suspect and the danger looks just a little too beautiful to be real. It’s ...

Smyth’s The Forest is an earnest curiosity — an hour-long tale that shows the composer’s tenacity more than dramatic instinct, and one that presents challenges to any director trying to bring it fully ...