The Dome, Brighton, New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2019

The Viennese Matinee for New Year is always a favourite and with Stephen Bell at the helm and Ailish Tynan in mellifluous voice it could not fail. If the programme seemed comfortably familiar there was nothing wrong in that, as Stephen Bell makes the overtures to Die Fledermaus and Countess Mariza sparkle like new and allows us to wallow sentimentally in Lehar’s Gold and Silver Waltz.

The second half brought a little contrast with Sullivan’s Overture di Ballo and the delightful novelty of Ronald Binge’s Faire Frou-Frou¸ before we were back on more familiar ground with Unter Donner und Blitz and – inevitably – The Blue Danube.

Ailish Tynan impressed particularly with the sensitivity of her approach, spinning gloriously delicate tone in Im Chambre Separee to complement the full flooded romanticism of Adele’s Laughing Song, and Meine Lippen. To sit comfortably alongside the Sullivan we heard a deliciously cool rendition of The sun whose rays from The Mikado. Stephen Bell guided us through the music with aplomb, adding his own anecdotes and just the occasional groan-worthy cracker joke.

Encores are inevitable and well deserved – this year Ailish Tynan wooed us with Vilja before we clapped along happily to the Radetzky March. Roll on next year and a happy 2020 to all.