Werk: Five Distances for Five Instruments

Hashimoto is clearly a brilliant technician, but often felt overly cautious in this St John's Smith Square programme.

The work of Sir Harrison Birtwistle isn't necessarily the sunniest music in the world, and coming into the Queen Elizabeth Hall last night for a serious-minded evening of discussion and performances of his intricate, modernist-style music by the London Sinfonietta, I confess to having felt a little reluctant to be leaving behind the sweltering heat of the South Bank.