Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, Howard Shelley (director/piano)

An innovative show saw pianist/conductor Howard Shelley draw on both skills, conducting the entire performance and leaping between pianist and conductor for Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2. This piece was the heart of the afternoon, with glorious colourful swathes and a lively buoyancy in the strings in the first movement, and stunning lyricism in Shelley’s playing in the second. The BPO then launched into the third movement that was excitable and well-received, the whole piece a joy from start to finish. Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 was not quite as immediately dazzling, but the cellos were sonorous and beguiling, and the latter movements were played with a fiery panache.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 6 March 2016

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