The programme began with Igor Stravinsky’s anarchic, energetic Suite no 2 for Small Orchestra. Then came Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs. Solo soprano Paula Sides needed the power in her voice to come through Strauss’s heavy orchestration, but the overall effect was beautiful, especially in the melancholy “Going to Sleep”.
The second half consisted of Sergei Rachmaninov’s passionate Symphony no 2. This really took the audience with it, concluding an evening of emotionally expressive music.