The splendid Vienna Tonkunstler, conducted by Andres Orozco-Estrada, made a very welcome return following an outstanding concert here three years ago.

Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta recall his childhood experience listening to a gypsy band from the region of Galanta.

Orozco-Estrada and his orchestra lifted the pulsing dance rhythms and vivid local colour from this delightful score in their daringly virtuosic performance.

There was orchestral virtuosity and pianistic fireworks with Barry Douglas’s performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 1 in F sharp minor.

The concerto’s lack-lustre 1901 premiere triggered Rachman-inov’s severe depression. Almost 20 years later, following extensive revision, Rachmaninov played the concerto with the Russian Symphony Orchestra and finally declared himself satisfied with the piece.

Barry Douglas beautifully captured the youthful exuberance and the romantic sweep of the concerto in his delicately contoured performance. The central andante movement shimmered with dappled light whilst the bravura of Douglas’s execution of the final allegro vivace was matched only by the brilliance of the Tonkunstler’s accompaniment. Far from seeming like an anti-climax, the Tonkunstler’s performance of Beethoven's “Pastoral” Symphony No 6 in F radiated energy.

Orozco-Estrada’s broad dynamic contrasts and flexible speeds allowed his players to shape and colour phrases.

Woodwind solos imitating the sounds of nature were ravishingly beautiful and the brass playing was sensational.

Beethoven’s depiction of a storm with thunder, lightening and a howling wind could have hardly been more realistic; rarely can the Shepherd’s Song after the storm have sounded so opulent, warm and yet sharply defined.

An encore inevitably followed: Leichtes Blut (Light of Heart) a fast polka by Johann Strauss ll played here with the virtuosic snap, crackle and pizzazz that only a Viennese orchestra could bring off.

Geoffrey Mogridge