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Magnificent: William Bracewell as Romeo and Fumi Kaneko as Juliet at the Royal Opera House CREDIT: Getty Images

7. Opera: The Midsummer Marriage

This stunning concert performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra of Tippett’s first opera
– a neglected postwar masterpiece – was totally convincing. Read the full review.

6. Art: Heather Phillipson

Telling the epic story of mankind’s vexed relationship with the natural world, this stonking
multimedia installation inside Tate Britain became a grand, ecstatic drama. Read the full review.

5. Pop: Little Simz

Funk, soul, jazz, gospel and grime bubble and boil through Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, the
brilliant fourth album – with an overarching personal narrative – by Britain’s best rapper. Read
the full review.

4. Classical: Nicola Benedetti

At Battersea Arts Centre, the Scottish virtuoso played violin concertos by Geminiani and Vivaldi,
proving that music often condemned as repetitive is full of thrilling, plaintive expressiveness.

3. Theatre: Anything Goes

An insanely enjoyable revival of the 1930s Cole Porter classic, begetting a cascade of laughter and a
cavalcade of hoofing, led by Tony-winner Sutton Foster as nightclub singer Reno. Read the full
review.