Work: The Tsar's Bride: Overture

Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninov may be bread-and-butter repertoire for pianist Nikolai Lugansky and conductor Tugan Sokhiev, but the stellar presentation at this Berlin Philharmonic concert was Chausson's Symphony in B flat major.

Dutch violinist Simone Lamsa stole the show with a revelatory account of Shostakovich’s Violin concerto no. 1 while Tung-Cheih Chuang delivered a cracking Firebird Suite. 

With Richard Strauss’s epic symphonic poem and Benedetti performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, the CBSO had major expectations to fulfil.