Concert Overture: Carnival, Op 92 - Dvorak

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 - Sibelius

Symphony No.3 in F, Op.90 - Brahms

The "joyous shouts and unbridled fun" that Dvorak heard in his overture, Carnival, made it a suitable opening for the concert at the NCH. The clangour of the brass and the rattle of the percussion in the hall rivalled any noise that would have been raised outside, nevertheless it was a gentle passage where the woodwind held sway that was most persuasive as music. A firmer hand on the bridle would have made the merriment more pointed, at the expense of making the revelry less wild.

Sibelius's Violin Concerto is a strange mixture of styles: the solo violin part sounds as if it might have been written for one of the great virtuosi of the 19th century, whereas the orchestral parts are unmistakably Sibelian. Ilia Gringolts (violin) and the conductor Colman Pearce brought the two styles quite close together; the soloist had the necessary virtuosity but avoided the temptation of turning the work into a showpiece; the conductor emphasised the relationship between the Concerto and other works - the early symphonies, The Swan of Tuonela, the revised En Saga. The balance between soloist and orchestra was irreproachable in this serious and considered reading.

The seriousness of Brahms can be a problem. The NSO kept the music moving against the gravitational pull, but the more grandeur that was attained, the less strongly beat the fire. The lyrical episodes presented by the woodwind, in their smaller scale, got closest to the heart of the matter.