Invigorating mainstream classics for a winter’s evening, plus the best of January’s classical concerts

Some might say the copper-bottomed mainstream programme the Philharmonia played last night was a cop-out, a symptom of the cautious approach to programming much of the orchestral world has adopted since the pandemic. On the other hand, performing three familiar masterworks from Beethoven and Sibelius one after another actually carries risks of its own. A premiere of a new piece which turns out to be a turkey can be shrugged off; a routine, lifeless performance of a masterpiece is somehow more up