Popular choices with a twist

The Brighton Philharmonic’s latest season of popular works continued on its glorious way on Sunday but with a slight twist courtesy of Beethoven.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Jan 2014, 08:36 BST

Listed as Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 6, his own arrangement for that instrument of his generally well-loved Violin Concerto in D was superbly delivered by Latvian pianist Andrejs Osokins, who was given a warm and enthusiastic welcome by the Dome faithful.

This work is not performed that often around the concert circuit and so provided a novel balance to two highly popular pieces by that master tunesmith Antonin Dvorak.

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The soloist was given exemplary support by the BPO under the expert baton of musical director Barry Wordsworth and particularly memorable was the combination of piano and timpani (Graham Reader) in the first movement.

Dvorak’s New World (Symphony No 9) must rank near the very top in the popularity stakes, while his Slavonic Dances never fail to delight and it all added up to another memorable afternoon of music-making.

The orchestra’s 89th season continues on Sunday February 9 with another heady mix of Prokofiev, Mendelssohn and Haydn, this time featuring violinist William Dutton from the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Chris Francis