Review: Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra concert, Sunday 7 December 2025 Brighton Dome, 2.45pm
Since Joanna MacGregor became Artistic Director of the The Brighton Philharmonic, the Orchestra has developed a reputation for innovation, and for widening our knowledge of classical music.
I can’t remember, in the forty-plus years I’ve known the Phil, that an accordion has featured in a concert. But here she was, a young Latvian Royal Academy student, 25 years old and already acquiring a standing and a reputation for her talents.
It was a full orchestra this time, complete with a fantastic-looking harp and a celeste, a piano-like instrument that has a delicate, bell-like sound.
Lead violin, Ruth Rogers, floats on, glamorous in a sequinned jacket. Joanna announces that “this is the Christmas music you didn’t know you wanted to hear.” Well, it’s true. And we weren’t disappointed.
So we had two familiar composers - Delius to start, and Tchaikovsky to finish, introducing us in between to two charismatic 20th century composers, whose histories are so varied,
we can barely keep up with them.
Delius’s ‘Eventyr: Once Upon a Time’, opens with low-tone double bass and cellos, joined by the violins followed by trumpet and flute: slow and pensive, then playful.
The second movement brought in brass and wind, and a variety of themes from rousing to calm. A relaxing piece that took us along with it.
It was good to see a number of children in the audience; they’re the future.
Then on comes Alise Silina with her enormous accordion. A versatile instrument with a number of pitch-changing keys. And so Alise played us a story - about a sleepy princess, a dragon, a sailor. ‘Every little movement tells a story,’ said Alise. And this 25-year-old, charming and talented, won our hearts.
And we understood, as we watched her fingers fly over the buttons, wondering how she knew which ones to play. A big 120-bass, accordion; it’s possible to look down at the keys for the main tune, but not the bass buttons, all played by feel and finger memory.
What drew her to the accordion? She was a music lover, she explained - not particularly for the accordion, but after begging her mother for a year to let her go to a music school, mother finally agreed. “And we did have an accordion at home, because my Mum played sometimes - she was also going to music school, and she used to play at parties and other occasions.”
“I started with piano accordion - just transitioned to button accordion a year ago. There is a chromatic system to figure out the notes.“
Did she start with a teacher? “In Latvia we have a really good music system, all for free and with one-on-one lessons with a teacher, together with theory lessons.” She started with an 80-bass accordion - the number of chord buttons on the left hand side. The ones you can’t see, but learn by touch. Now she’s got her huge 120 bass accordion, carried in either in a rucksack or on a little trolley. If she takes it on a plane, she buys another seat.
She came to England four years ago to study, did her undergrad and is now doing her Masters at the Royal Academy of Music. She’s mostly drawn to contemporary music - the challenge of what’s going on, then figuring it out later, and also likes tango music; has her own ensemble called Alora, “where we mostly play tango in a string quartet,” she adds.
And so her performance of Václav Trojan’s ‘Eventyr: Once upon a Time’, started with an overture - basically, one big party, Alise explained. A lot of dancing and a lot of fun. There was a sleeping princess, an evil dragon and a prince who came to her rescue. Exploring a magic box and the story of a sailor seduced by a siren, coming in eight separate movements, finishing with dancing and ‘The Acrobatic Fairy Tale’. Pure musical fantasy.
And meanwhile, staying in the Eastern Europe area, we’re treated to Ukrainian born Thomas de Hartmann (1885-1956). His varied life story leaves us reeling as his travels go from Moscow, through St Petersburg, Munich, Caucasus, Turkey and Paris. But we’re treated to his Ukrainian carols: Noëls Unkainiens, in his nine songs influenced by folk culture.
Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite saw us out, with all its familiar melodies. So we left this remarkable concert, having learned something new, tempered by works we’d heard before, to round it all off.
Next concert: A Christmas Carol:
Thursday 18 December 2025: 6pm and 8pm at St George’s Church, Kemptown:
Friday 19 December 2025: 6pm St Mary’s Church, Petworth.
Saturday 20 December 2025: 6pm St Anne’s Church, Lewes.
Tickets £20; £10 Under 30s; £2.50 child. brightonphil.org.uk/whats-on.