Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, Raphael Wallfisch (cello) Barry Wordsworth (conductor)

Brighton’s favourite maestro (and Britain’s premier ballet conductor) gave a delightful pulse and sparkle to Lord Berners’ enchanting ‘Fantasie Espagnole’, winning many new fans for this absurdly neglected composer. We then enjoyed a masterly performance of Walton’s deeply emotional Cello Concerto.

Holst’s ‘The Planets’ too was full of dance, with precise detailing in the emphatic beat of ‘Mars’ and in the sensuous line of ‘Venus’, in the jollity of ‘Jupiter’. It was a splendid showcase for the whole augmented orchestra. The 2015 season concluded with mystic ‘Neptune’ and the eerie off-stage voices of the ladies of the Brighton Festival Chorus.

Coda: Have there ever been so many under-10s attending a formal concert and behaving so well? What promise for the future!

Dome Concert Hall, 22 March 2015

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