If you were looking for a sparkle of magic on a misty night in Bournemouth, tonight's Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra's majestic programme really delivered.

With the captivating Scheherazade by composer Rimsky-Korsakov on the menu, a musical treat awaited so it was disappointing to see many empty seats for such a spectacular evening.

Anne-Marie Minhall of Classic FM presented, introducing opener Wagner's The Flying Dutchman Overture as “one of music's fiercest storms and a giant of a curtain raiser”, which it certainly was. Conjuring roving and tempestuous seas, and contrasting frenetic strings with delicate harp, it had something for everyone.

We then were treated to the huge talent of young Belgian violinist Yossif Ivanov playing a Stradivarius from 1699.

With endless lists of orchestral performances to his name, his return as BSO soloist tonight was delightful as he mastered his way through Tchaikovsky's violin concerto.

Having heard Augustin Hadelich perform this last month at the Lighthouse, Ivanov brought a different yet still brilliant style to the concerto, skipping and bouncing with an ease that disguised this most technically demanding of works. An uplifting Paganini encore was an added bonus.

For me however, the highlight was always going to be Scheherazade. Anne-Marie Minhall introduced it as a “feast of sumptuous colours and orchestration” telling us “I know you are going to love this”, and love it we did!

The audience had to restrain itself not to clap until the end, such was the enjoyment of each of the four movements. The composer himself described his piece as “fairytale wonders” giving his listeners “snapshots” of 1001 Arabian Nights, and its four magnificent movements conjured rich imagery and lived up to Marin Alsop's (previous BSO Principal Conductor) description of the piece as a “treasure trove” and “true genuis”.

Amyn Merchant's solo violin was beautiful, and every member of the BSO seemed to live and breathe the piece as they played. This also extended to the incredible Frank Zielhorst conducting. Talking to us backstage after the concert, he was clearly exhausted having given everything of himself to this evening's performance, but rightly exuberant at having been at the helm of such a magnificent orchestra once again.

This wonderful Leverhulme Young Conductor will be greatly missed when he bows out at Meyrick Park in the Summer.

Stephanie Hall