One hundred musicians, seven days, five concerts, three buses, two hotels, but only one Budapest Festival Orchestra. Ivan Fischer’s superlative orchestra, together with soloist Richard Goode, were guests of the Barbican Centre as the start of a UK tour in February. The programme, which included Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto and Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony, found the Orchestra on radiant form, and was a welcome return to London following their success in last year’s Proms. The tour then went on to Basingstoke, Nottingham and Birmingham before ending in the gothic splendour of Leeds Town Hall. Ecstatic reviews in national papers were followed by equally glowing write-ups from local papers too. Intermusica’s touring department took up residence in the Far East in January and early February. Three members of staff accompanied the London Symphony Chorus and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra on tour in the region. The LSC kicked off with a trio of performances of Mahler 2 with the Malaysian Philharmonic in their home city of Kuala Lumpur. In the glorious Petronas Hall the LSC received ovations from capacity audiences, thrilled to be hearing a symphonic chorus for the first time in the hall. A few days later the Chorus gave an a cappella performance, including the Asian premiere of an LSC commission - Jonathan Dove’s The Passing of the Year. In the meantime, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and their Music Director Hartmut Haenchen, had landed in Hong Kong, where they were to be the resident orchestra of the Hong Kong International Arts Festival. Their first concert, including Mahler 4, opened the Festival and follows the Orchestra’s hugely successful Mahler cycle in Amsterdam. Two days later the Orchestra teamed up with the London Symphony Chorus, newly arrived from Kuala Lumpur, and performed Brahms Requiem and, at the final concert, Mahler’s Third Symphony. Paul McCreesh’s Gabrieli Consort & Players have had a busy spring and concerts were given in collaboration with Intermusica in Istanbul and at the Luzern Easter festival. Handel’s Orlando was presented in the new concert hall in Istanbul, before setting off on a larger European tour. The Luzern audiences heard Handel’s Solomon, revived after the award winning recording by the Gabrieli on Deutsche Gramophon, with a cast including Andreas Scholl. The performance, in the Jesuit Kirchen, received a standing ovation.