The Spanish piano star Javier Perianes makes a stunning return to continue his luminous Beethoven cycle.

At this level of musicianship, reports Phil Scott, comparisons may be odious, but they’re also fascinating.

MSO Chief Conductor Jaime Martín’s second season in the job is a wide-ranging campaign for hearts, minds and inflation-weary wallets.

A round-up of our recent news reports.

Ensemble Offspring, the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and Donny Benét are among this year's classical and jazz nominees.

The memorable premiere of a new musical landmark, Elena Kats-Chernin’s violin concerto, featuring a wondrous performance by violinist Emily Sun.

A wide-ranging program perfectly in tune with its gorgeous natural surroundings made for a breathtaking Festival that even won over the weather.

Elena Kats-Chernin explains how her first violin concerto, written for soloist Emily Sun, draws on ideas she had just explored in a score for a German silent film set in the circus world.

What do our orchestras and choirs have on offer in the year ahead?

The lineup salts Sydney with 748 performances, featuring homegrown and international talent, with a cascade of world premieres and the Australian premiere of the opera Sun & Sea, staged on an artificial beach.

With the MSO under Maestro Benjamin Northey, violinist Emily Sun gave a performance of Korngold's Violin Concerto that warrants recording, as does the orchestra's rendition of Hyde's Village Fair.

Highlights include Stephen Hough and the ASO performing all of Rachmaninov's works for piano and orchestra, world premieres by Elena Kats-Chernin, Anne Cawrse and Grayson Rotumah, and the arrival of new Concertmaster Kate Suthers.