WITH a guarantee of no rain and glorious music the punters unpacked their picnics on the artificial turf and made ready for the second evening of the BSO’s Indoor Outdoor Festival.

The warmth of the evening was underscored by the male members of the orchestra accepting the option to leave off their jackets after the interval, whilst outside Murphy’s Law operated with another balmy night.

Inside the capacity crowd rose to sing Elgar’s Land of Hope and Glory under the projected moon as this experiment in avoiding the vagaries of the British climate proved an outstanding success.

Conductor Matthew Wood, fielding the full force of the orchestra, accompanied the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus in Orff’s mighty O Fortuna followed by Sibelius’ magnificent choral version of Finlandia.

Arguably the most popular living composer, John Williams’ facility with film scores that can stand the test of concert performance is legendary. Included here were Memoirs of a Geisha, Superman March and the poignant Hymn to the Fallen.

Stewart Collins’ enthusiasm lifted the happy mood ever higher and one member of the audience responding to Collins’ pitch for ’anyone from abroad’ found himself the butt of several good-humoured football related jibes. Yes, he was German! But then so were Orff and Handel and the latter penned that great Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest sung by the BSC in spine-tingling form.