Performer: David Watkin

The early Handel opera Agrippina is given a rare and playful outing at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with clear Italian singing, joyous Baroque playing and lively stage production.

What better start to a near capacity crowd concert than Mendelssohn's rousing Overture in C Major, Op101. It contains everything required to suggest a promising evening's music: pace, sparkling orchestration, energising counterpoint, dramatic dynamics and panache.

I've never really hit it off with Poulenc's Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (1938-9). This has been both a disappointment and a surprise as I am a fan not only of choral music, but also of Poulenc.