ANY classical concert programme made up of works by the giants Khachaturian, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky is clearly going to be worth the price of the ticket.

Add into the mix the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, a wonderfully charismatic conductor and a mesmerising piano soloist and you have a cast iron guarantee of a winning evening.

So it proved with Triumph and Passion at the Lighthouse.

From the podium, Mikhail Tatarnikov drew the most stunning of complete performances from the BSO players across three big pieces, the crowd-pleasing and universally recognisable Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia, Piano Concerto No. 2 and the tour de force of Symphony No. 5

Tchaikovsky's masterpiece was received with wild enthusiasm by an audience that clearly recognising the incredible energy and skill of the musicians.

For Shostakovich's Piano Concerto, soloist Boris Giltburg dazzled and stunned, his efforts undoubtedly bringing a smile to every face in the full house.

His hands were a blur in this gloriously free, uplifting and wistful work, premiered in Moscow in 1957, Giltburg's own birthplace.

To complete the Russian theme, the evening was in the hands of Mikhail Tatarnikov, the musical director and principal conductor of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St Petersburg.

The programme was also a reminder that not all classical music hails from the dim and distant.

When Khachaturian wrote Spartacus the Russians were forming the Warsaw Pact. And when Shostakovich penned his piece they were launching Sputnik.

This was a truly wonderful concert, a real triumph from the East and one of many highlights of this special anniversary reason.

Andy Martin