The Dome, Brighton, 2 March 2014

Barry Wordsworth was dressed to kill this afternoon, and his programme served to reinforce the sense of occasion, growing in strength as it progressed.

Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin was light and airy throughout with a real brightness in the final movement. The small orchestral forces seemed to add up to more than the players on stage. The same was true for Vivaldi’s A minor Bassoon concerto. An unprepossessing work, Andrea de Flammineis gave us a cultured and gently moving account of a work which seems very close to Venice. The opening movement has minor undertone which feels like a slightly unstable gondola. This gives way in the second movement to a quiet moonlit night out on the lagoon. Fanciful, of course, but the whole work has a gentle smile which soloists and orchestra brought off to perfection.

There is an innocence, almost a naivety, about Copland’s Appalachian Spring which is immensely appealing – a dream of what might have been but has now been lost. This was very well caught by Barry Wordsworth and the small orchestra, with some very effective solo playing, particularly Alistair Young at the piano.

The afternoon ended with Mozart’s Symphony No 29 in A. One of my earliest memories of concert going is hearing this symphony in the Maida Vale studios back in the early 1960s and it has remained a favourite ever since, though it is not as popular as it once was. The structure may be conventional but Mozart constantly stretches the boundaries, and there are passages that pre-figure Beethoven even at this early stage.

A brief word from Barry encouraged us all to support not only the final concert this season, on 30 March, but to endeavour to support in any way possible the next season which will include not only eight concerts at the Dome but also four concerts in Brighton Unitarian Church. More details to follow!