BBC Music November 2011

Vasily Petrenko With his searing Shostakovich and ravishing Rachmaninov, the superb Russian conductor has breathed new life into the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He talks exclusively to Ivan Hewett

The Symphony What is a symphony? And what are the symphonies that excite the top conductors? We explore orchestral music's most noble form

Victoria's Requiem Jeremy Summerly names the finest recordings of this masterpiece of Renaissance choral writing

Maurice Duruflé William Whitehead looks beyond the Requiem to find a French composer with a unique voice