Warm affection demonstrated by the Dome audience for Barry Wordsworth and the Brighton Philharmonic at the opening concert of the new season was rewarded by a magical afternoon of classical music.

Stephen Hough, soloist for Beethoven Piano Concerto No 1, brought an intelligent and finely considered emotion to that early work.

It was a faultless performance of great clarity and simplicity, of beautifully shaped and punctuated phrases, and decorated with immaculate trills and cadenzas.

Virtuoso passages never overshadowed the musical sense and structure.

The late 19th century saw a remarkable flowering of Russian orchestral music, much of it inspired by literature and folk tunes, notably both Tchaikovsky’s Op. 32 and Kalinnikov’s Symphony No. 1.

Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini Fantasy is an orchestral storm of swirling crescendi and extreme dynamic contrasts which demanded a great deal of clashing cymbals and all Wordsworth’s control of the large forces involved.

Less startling was the little known symphony by Vasily Kalinnikov, a rhythmic and richly melodic composition with echoes of Tchaikovsky ballets and Cossack dances.

The second movement tick-tock accompaniment to a waltz tune was particularly striking but all four movements were accessible and attractive.

Tiny Oriental threads ran through the entire programme.

Four stars