The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s first concert of 2014 includes an intriguing rarity – a performance of Beethoven’s Sixth Piano Concerto.

If, like me, you thought he only wrote five, you would be right – and wrong. The composer was a genius in transcribing music from one medium to another, and in a masterful reworking of his hugely popular Violin Concerto for the piano, we have a delightful bonus. All the familiar tunes are there, of course, but freshly clothed in wonderful new sonorities. He furnished his piano transcription with some magnificent cadenzas, further enhancing it with ever-varied combinations of soloist and woodwind, adding to the rich colouring that is such a feature of this work.

The soloist in Sunday’s concert at the Dome will be the young Latvian pianist Andrejs Osokins (pictured left), a finalist in the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition. Described by critics as “impeccably stylish” and praised for his “powerful intellect”, Osokins is an ideal choice to introduce Brighton to a “new” piano concerto by Beethoven.

A new year brings with it a New World – Dvorák’s monumental Ninth Symphony. Written by the composer in America, it was to have a profound influence on future generations of American composers.

Surprisingly, none of the highly memorable themes are real folk melodies, showing how fully he had absorbed the feeling of the Negro spirituals and plantation songs he heard.

Dvorák described himself as a “simple Czech musician”, and this aspect of his musical personality is gloriously exemplified in his two sets of Slavonic Dances. As a youngster he had performed in his local village band and got to know the distinctive flavour of the varied dance forms. The concert on Sunday includes three of the best of these dances – in turn lively, witty and tender, but above all entertaining.