TAKING a long look back on its past glories through their founding conductor Sir Dan Godfrey, the second of the BSO’s Living Tradition series brought some of the now familiar music to an eager audience.

Grieg’s Piano Concerto is one big crowd pleaser that soloist Alexander Gavrylyuk took by storm right from the off. Lyricism is key, drama essential and with many a nod in the direction of poetic sagacity it was the barnstorming bravura that gave Gavrylyuk the acclaim he deserved. And it was Kirill Karabits’ who held the torch to ignite the explosion of the melody-packed finale. In contrast, Gavrylyuk’s encore of Rachmaninov’s Vocalise held a breathless beauty.

Having raised one storm another was in the offing. Debussy’s La Mer gestates through three episodes opening with the subtlest of dawn colours, and on to high noon through sparkling, sunlit, wind-swept playfulness to become the overwhelming tsunami of orchestral forces in Karabits’ fabulous account.

There is something of the neo-classical in Sibelius’ Symphony No.3. Karabits’ opening paragraph shone with unusual, cheery brilliance. Capricious sections infused with rich string sonorities, melancholy harmonisations, elfin pianissimos and a vibrant, compulsive finale were all given that special, new breath of life that makes Karabits so compelling.