Why Richard Durrant chose Malcolm Arnold's guitar concerto as his solo piece for this concert with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra is beyond me.

It is a nightmarish piece of work - dissonant and discordant - and did nothing to showcase the skills and talents of the Shoreham-based guitar virtuoso.

With poor amplification, the guitar was overpowered by the orchestra, and the whole work served to remind me not to have cheese for supper.

Luckily, the choice of music for the second half was Rodion Shechdrin's Carmen-Suite, a reworking of the great moments from Bizet's opera as an independent ballet piece.

This was the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra in fine form even with a new conductor, Robert Ziegler on the podium.

Adding to the orchestra's exuberance was the Ensemble Bash and extra percussion.

All the celebrated Bizet tunes were here, performed with verve and a wit which made for a memorable evening.