Performer: Southend Boys' and Girls' Choirs

Thomas Søndergård’s final performance as chief of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales sees them pull off Mahler 8 in style.

Saint-Saens' “Dance of Death” and Orff's gaudy, medieval satire framed a stunningly-realised new commission from Guy Barker, with Alison Balsom playing against type. 

A work scheduled to last nearly two hours could be excused for starting with a long slow build up, but Havergal Brian’s massive Gothic Symphony (the longest symphony ever composed) bursts onto the scene with a brisk and bustling march-like flourish, contrasted briefly with a delicate violin solo that reminds us that this is very much an English composition.