MIKHAIL Glinka is widely regarded as the father of Russian classical music.

He was a huge influence on those who came later, most notably the famous 'Mighty Handful' of serious drinkers and amateur composers that included Borodin, Mussorgsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

The BSO with the Leverhulme Young Conductor in Association, the charismatic Maxime Tortelier, brought together a little of the sorcerer/apprentice theme with a rollercoaster of a concert, headlined with the dazzling Scheherazade at the Lighthouse on Sunday afternoon.

The concert, the annual Benevolent Fund event, opened with Glinka's rollicking Ruslan and Ludmilla overture which got the afternoon off to a rip roaring start with fast and furious dancing strings and booming percussion.

The overture is one of the best known and most popular Russian virtuoso orchestral showpieces.

Then came Mendelssohn's violin concerto with a stunning performance by Chloe Hanslip bringing everything to the bold, dramatic and haunting masterpiece. Her efforts were rapturously received by an enthusiastic audience.

But the highlight was the wonderful symphonic suite of Scheherazade, based on the 1001 Arabian Nights.

Scheherazade has only four movements, but they are typical of the time, with dazzling, colourful orchestration and an evocative sense of the East.

Rimsky-Korsakov just wanted to direct the listener's imagination to the stories and let his music paint the pictures.

It does, of the Sultan, Sinbad, Scheherazade, princes and princesses, festivals, ships and shipwrecks.

1001 nights. Four movements. One amazing performance.

Spine-tingling moments, simply too many to count. Sensational afternoon.

* The Benevolent Fund was established in 1958 to help musicians in cases of prolonged illness or injury.