The Traveller at Salisbury Catherdal

An exciting collaboration between the composer Alec Roth and the writer Vikram Seth with Eastern inflections

Prom 65: Berlin Philharmonic/Rattle

In Simon Rattle's overwhelmingly powerful concert the orchestra and conductor eclipsed everything else in this Proms season

Prom 64: Berliner Philharmoniker/Rattle

Rattle opened up textures to disclose the finest hidden detail, and carved out great songs of love with sculptural strength

British Sea Power at Sing Ye from the Hillsides!

Maverick psychedelic rockers British Sea Power hold boutique music festival at Britain’s highest pub

Connect review: the prettiest British festival

Hard to reach but classier than T in the Park, this well-heeled festival finally got its party started, says Lisa Verrico

Chemical Brothers at Olympia, W14

The usual gig conditions were turned on their head as band and crowd surfed the waves of electronic euphoria

Prom 60: Lang Lang/Marc Yu

Yu’s passagework and tone, though polished and precise, couldn’t quite give the pure muscle a red-blooded piece like this needed

Madonna at Wembley Stadium

On the Cardiff opening night of her 50-odd-date Sticky & Sweet tour, Madonna looked amazing

Simón BolÍvar Youth Orch/Dudamel

Redefining flamboyance, Tchaikovsky’s allegros were so prestissimo that you imagined steam rising from the fiddlers’ fingers

Katarina Karnéus

The voice of the 1994 winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition sometimes didn’t seem in the best of health

Prom 55: Philharmonia/Mälkki

Mälkki’s cool head was definitely good for Eötvös’s concerto, which flung its eerie clusters of sound around the Albert Hall

Gwyneth Herbert

The young British singer's Soho performance was an endearing mixture of poetic introspection and intelligent swing

Proms 53 and 54: BBCSO/Davis and Royal Philharmonic/Gatti

Andrew Davis conducted the symphony with the authority vital to galvanise the visionary and the violence within the music

Polar Bear

At the heart of the matter was a bravura display of the traditional drummer's art by Seb Rochford

Kate Nash shows the strain in Edinburgh

Just 20 minutes into her festival set, her voice began to crack up and her lyrics were becoming difficult to decipher

R.E.M. gets political during Cardiff concert

Barack Obama’s campaign poster flashed across the video screens behind Michael Stipe as R.E.M played for the Wales crowd

Presteigne Festival

In the perfect context for undistracted listening, this Welsh festival lived up to its reputation with a demanding programme

George Michael

Much of the star's set had a distinctly dated feel, as if preserved in aspic from 15 or 20 years ago

Madonna at the Millennium Stadium

She was an hour late, but Madonna's totalitarian, sense-battering spectacle silenced the doubters

James Yorkston

Yorkston's dry, deadpan air of lingering melancholy was all very sensitive and sensible, but a bit of a yawn