Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Brighton Dome Concert Hall, September 22

They brought along a rarity, Dvorak’s The Noon Witch, one of his later symphonic poems in which he used fairy tales for the subject matter. Though pleasantly folksy, it was not Dvorak’s finest hour, but he was not helped by the patronising verbal introduction by the conductor, Rory Macdonald.

However, from then onwards things picked up with fine performances of two unassailable masterpieces, the Bruch Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

The Hungarian violinist Barnabas Kelemen, suitably frock-coated, played the Bruch with all the required passion and tenderness. He smouldered in the opening, swooned in the famous slow movement and scintillated in the finale, much helped by the sensitive accompaniment.

Then, after the interval, there was a neat and fresh account of the Pastoral. The interpretation tended to skate over the surface in the opening movements, but the final Thanksgiving achieved much of the quiet intensity only to be found in an exceptional performance. So Rory Macdonald redeemed himself after the shaky start.

This concert will be repeated at Chichester Cathedral on September 29 and is highly recommended.