Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Church Street, Sunday, March 22

Internationally celebrated cellist Raphael Wallfisch is the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s guest soloist for their final concert this season. He will be in Brighton to perform Walton’s Cello Concerto, a piece that has played a very significant part in the performer’s life and led to many performances all over the world.

Wallfisch studied in Los Angeles with the great Russian-born American cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, whose flair for virtuosity combined with exquisite taste in style and phrasing was a great influence. It was Piatigorsky who commissioned the Cello Concerto from Walton. The piece could have been, and probably was, tailor made for his gigantic and deeply expressive style of playing. Inevitably much of that approach informs Wallfisch’s own performances. Composed on the island of Ischia – Walton’s Italian home – a certain amount of Mediterranean warmth and colour pervades the work. At times contemplative but, unlike Elgar, never elegiac, the mood is largely one of acceptance and celebration for what is, rather than what has, or might have been.

The concert will open with a performance of Fantaisie Espagnole by Lord Berners. One of the most idiosyncratic and fascinating personalities in the history of British music, he was wholly unserious about anything. His Fantaisie Espagnole is less a depiction of Spain rather than a brilliant parody of conventional Spanish musical mannerisms. The programme concludes with a performance of Holst’s stunning masterpiece, The Planets. Its seven movements depict in music the astrological characters of each planet, beginning with a chilling evocation of Mars, The Bringer Of War, and ending with Neptune, The Mystic, a haunting portrayal of the mystery and wonder of outer space.

Peter Back Starts 2.45pm, tickets from £11. Call 01273 709709.