The evening began with a spirited performance of An American in Paris, the orchestra augmented with a trio of saxophones and its trumpet section, led by Murray Greig, dealing with the frequent idiomatic exposure with superb proficiency.

It was a performance that demanded much from all sections and grew more relaxed as it progressed, with a suitably sultry breadth to the long blues tune in the middle, and rhythmic incisiveness throughout.

The percussion, with those dated taxi-cab horns (forbidden in Paris now) and the crisp woodwind playing, all contributed to an exciting demonstration of disciplined orchestral efficiency.

They were joined by the Japanese pianist, Noriko Ogawa, for Gershwin's Piano Concerto, an over-ambitious work written a few years earlier.

With an incisive instrument at her disposal, Ogawa managed to convey the rapturous climaxes well, and the playful humour at the heart of the slow movement, surrounded by more of that languorous trumpet playing, contributed to making it all a bit more plausible.

But Gershwin's inability to make his larger-scale compositions cohesive is a tiring listening experience.

Relief came with Kaspszyk's fine performance of Rachmaninov's 3rd Symphony and a composer's expert handling of the thematic development and structure.


St George's Hall, Bradford