THE Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra put on a dazzling display of Russian music at the Pavilion on Saturday evening, with a little help from Romanian rising star pianist Alexandra Dariescu.
The 'Russian Festival', expertly hosted by Classic FM's John Brunning, opened with Borodin's melodic and stirring Polovtsian Dances, performed with obvious relish by the orchestra under the direction of Anthony Inglis.
Dariescu was given a warm welcome to the stage and launched into the famous opening of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with gusto.
Matching sensitivity with flair, her performance held the audience spellbound and was followed by a welcome encore.
After the interval followed Liadov's elegiac and little-known The Enchanted Lake, then a return to Tchaikovsky with the always popular Nutcracker Suite and a little Eugene Onegin.
As always the orchestra's playing was sensitive to the music and stirring and moving in turns, although the programme itself felt a little light to this reviewer and might have benefited from a symphonic second half.
Another splendid evening courtesy of the BSO.
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