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Walton’s First Symphony from 1935 rounded off the evening in a blaze of brassy glory. Petrenko approached the work in a full-blooded fashion, which didn’t always hit the mark, but was ultimately thrilling.

In a programme guaranteed to draw the crowds the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra were on sparkling form with dynamic playing too from pianist Boris Giltburg.

In an all-Russian programme, Agrest gave us a thoughtfully textured Tchaikvosky 4, while the ease with which Andrey Gugnin took on Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto was a delight.

The St Petersburg Philharmonic playing Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony – a work it premiered in 1937 as the Leningrad Philharmonic – was a highlight of a superb concert concluding its UK tour. 

Khachaturian’s innate gift for melody and Dvořák’s penchant for grandeur and drama led to an evening of sumptuous and exciting music-making from the BSO. 

A Russian orchestra playing big, soul-searching pieces of Russian music is always going to be a crowd-puller, and a full symphony orchestra visiting the North East is a rare treat, so it was no surprise that the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra had the cavernous Town Hall in Middlesbrough pretty much filled, with a very enthusiastic audience.

The beautiful thing about music is that it can be a physical embodiment of passion. Violinist Andrew Haveron’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on Thursday night in Dublin occasionally felt like it lacked a bit of passion, dazzlingly virtuosic though his performance was.

Avec son jeu orchestral et lyrique, le pianiste russe excelle dans Tchaïkovski et Rachmaninov.