BPO – Lonely Angel – Ruth Rogers (violin), Sascha Bota (viola), Joanna MacGregor (conductor/piano)

The stage was empty! Where was the orchestra? Well, the two dozen string players came on all together like soloists to welcoming applause, ready to play Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances. And ready to dance too, for the violins and violas remained standing, the dynamic Nicky Sweeney directing with elegant lunges and flourishes of her bow. The six contrasting dances, short and spicy, demonstrated just what a spirited orchestra the BPO has become.

Mozart’s glorious Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola brought on two more soloists. Normally I wouldn’t presume to mention a performer’s attire but Ruth Rogers, the orchestra’s usual concertmaster, was in a gown that screamed for comment – a symphony in shimmering silver. Anywhere but in Brighton and it would be over the top! In fact it just managed to balance with the sensational stage presence of Sascha Bota on the viola. He seemed to be pouring music out across the audience. The violin and viola were beautifully matched and both players were clearly having so much fun.

Sascha Bota © Andrej Grilc1

After the interval we found out the real reason for the glamorous gown, when Ruth Rogers, now in meditative mode, held us enthralled in Pēteris Vasks’ exquisite Lonely Angel. Joanna MacGregor kept the other strings steady as the solo Angel soared above in a gentle, often dotted, rhythm, climbing ever up yet sometimes faltering and dipping below the stave. She was floating over the rocking, lulling strings, sometimes blissful, sometimes keening, and then breaking out in animated arpeggios, up and down over the entire range of the violin’s compass. A sensuous glissando to the depths initiated the stratospheric ending. Rogers’ sparkle was all in the music, scintillating, sustained, poised – a serene performance.

BPO – Ruth Rogers & Nicky Sweeney © FrancesMarshall

A Mozart Piano Concerto was a very sensible choice to follow that, especially as it came with the bonus of MacGregor’s impromptu comments beforehand. Those brief moments of informality make the afternoon seem like a parlour performance, in your own front room, intimate and friendly. The concerto, however, was full of passion and bravura, embellished with the Beethoven cadenzas. MacGregor knows perfectly how to bring her audience out of a trance and banish all traces of February gloom.

Andrew Connal
Brighton Dome Concert Hall,
22 February 2026

Rating:

Ruth Rogers – violin
Sascha Bota – viola
Joanna MacGregor – conductor/piano
Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
Nicky Sweeney and Ruth Rogers – leaders

Programme:
Bartók – Romanian Folk Dances
Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola
Vasks – Lonely Angel
Mozart – Piano Concerto no.20 in D minor