The beauty of bandstand music is the opportunity it provides for listeners to pause, to stroll by, to return and perhaps, inspired by the nature of the pieces played, to make a romantic assignment.
The quality of the performances might not match those of the RT╔ Concert Orchestra under David Heusel, but one could have lingered to hear Shaun Hooke and Eoin Daly expertly chasing the prey in Vivaldi's Double Concerto For Two Trumpets And Strings In C, then drifted away during Vaughan Williams's undemanding Fantasia On Greensleeves.
Nicolai's overture The Merry Wives Of Windsor never lives up to its hushed beginning, sensitively played by the RT╔ Concert Orchestra, and for brilliant orchestration the palm must go to Chabriers's Espa±a.
This was real holiday music, and the audience that packed the National Concert Hall at lunchtime last Tuesday plainly enjoyed it to the full, even if confined to their seats.
The waltz from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky sounded pallid in comparison, and the imaginary couple might have had a whispered conversation, continuing into Tea For Two by Youmans (arr. Shostakovich). Strauss's Thunder And Lightening Polka ended the session with a suitably big bang.
