The new acoustics in the Dome gave Brighton Festival Chorus the first chance to be heard there properly since they formed.

And what a splendid sound they made. The reading of Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms was fresh and exciting, twelve-year-old treble Pablo Strong must have warmed more than a few hearts.

Slatkin, the first American chief conductor of the London Proms, is an infect-

ious, happy conductor, who brought excellent fare from his orchestra, which is more used to the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC than the Dome.

He is energetic and disciplined and in his opening piece, Gunter Schiller's Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee, showed he can give atonal, modern music interest and excitement.

But his finest achievement on Sunday evening was his spirited and enthusiastic reading of Dvorak's last symphony from the New World.

If you missed it, or want to hear it again, tune in to BBC Radio 3 tonight at 7.30pm.