Sunday's Brighton Philharmonic concert had an attractive programme: Beethoven's inspiring Egmont Overture, the Bruch Violin Concerto and Sibelius' most attractive yet not over-played First Symphony.
Stephen Bell, the conductor, had forged a strong partnership with the violin soloist, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, to produce an affectionate, but still noble, account of this favourite.
Sibelius No.1 was more of a challenge and more rehearsal time would not have come amiss.
But there was fine playing with the horn section in form, though the string numbers were not large enough to do justice to the richness of Sibelius' lusher passages.
An enjoyable concert then, unfortunately marred by audience indiscipline.
The Sibelius starts with a long, quiet clarinet solo accompanied only by the ominous timpani. It should create a wonderful atmosphere, evocative of the Finnish landscape.
But as soon as the fine clarinettist, John Payne, started playing, he encountered a barrage of coughing which continued throughout his solo, ruining the effect the composer aimed to achieve.
Hindsight is a fine thing, but it would have been great if the conductor had stopped the performance and turned to address the audience, saying: “I'll give you 30 seconds to finish your coughing. Then we'll start again - in silence”.
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