The BSO had been whittled down to chamber orchestra size but the strength of character in the music belied the forces required.

Duncan Riddell, directing from the violin, in partnership with Lawrence Power, viola rightly relished Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante K364 allowing the joy of music making to whet the appetite. Their cadenzas were a model of gentlemanly discourse amidst the stirring melodic material.

Britten’s character framing Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is a masterpiece of wide-ranging ingenuity providing the string orchestra with a potent assimilation of styles.

Riddell’s direction drew a tour-de-force performance from the BSO; whether in the sheer urgency of the March, the gliding beauty of the Romance or the zestful Aria Italiana the portrayal they served up was inspiring. Emanating from the Chant were hints of Peter Grimes and the finale’s piquant energy just leapt from the stage.

Beethoven’s Symphony No 8 abounds with wit and brazen humour. Yet its incarnation alongside the 7th Symphony shows in the rhythmic impulse of the first movement. Riddell set an invigorating tempo here to contrast with the playful Allegretto.

Winds and brass uppermost in the Minuet, with a finale that wickedly pokes a C sharp tongue out at the gathering fiery farce, this was superb.