Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Lighthouse, Poole

Sandwiched between two dazzling orchestral scores, Brahms’ Violin Concerto held a packed house in awe of its inspiring artistry and the complete mastery of its protagonist Sergey Khachatryan.

Virtuosity, though not overt here, shone intensely through the first movement cadenza and elsewhere. Khachatryan’s breathtaking approach to the subtler passages such as the initial part of the first movement development and, of course, the Adagio, even if Edward Kay (oboe) had the best melody, had irresistible eloquence, as did the Bach encore.

Seasoned and well respected conductor Carlo Rizzi, making his BSO debut in this Nationwide sponsored concert, proved his credentials in Rimsky-Korsakov’s lavish re-orchestration of Mussorgsky’s A Night on the Bare Mountain. Rizzi set a fizzing pace to the opening, maintaining a powerful force through to The Sabbath’s disconcertingly calm finale.

Richard Strauss was similarly a master of orchestration and Also Sprach Zarathustra conveys that to spectacular effect. The opening, underpinned by the organ (Chris Dowie) is shattering but Rizzi’s cogent performance made no more of this than necessary, concentrating his considerable musicianship on the remaining episodes.

There is much division among the strings and Strauss’s technique of accumulative string power gave a rich perspective, gloriously played by a considerably augmented BSO.