REVIEW Liszt Piano Concerto Number One at Brighton Dome

Which is a testament to the skill and enthusiasm of soloist John Lill, who is old enough to have more than five decades of fine music-making behind him and is the respected president of the orchestra.

The piece took Lizt 26 years to complete, but starts as if he was in a hurry to make a bravura statement.

Lill did more than meet all the tricky technical challenges – including the crucial dynamics between piano and orchestra which make or mar this piece.

He also infused his own experience, calming the fire of the dazzling right hand work with cooler, darker textures at the other end of the keys whilst not dousing the essential fire of the whole piece.

What a captivating performance, too from the orchestra, in what was the highlight of a programme of fascinating pieces.

Conductor Barry Wordsworth made sure the musicians handled silkily the transpositions from that monumental opening to tranquillity before the strings gave it a gentle nudge forward.

At other times the strings found unified aggression as they cut through the bold brass sound as one finely-honed knife.

Some sparkling woodwind graced this piece, but it ended as it began with plenty of energy uncoiled in the final movement.

Talking of Liszt, the Totentanz for piano and orchestra didn’t beat about the bush musically with its strident opening bass chords and brass flourishes and the gothic feel was well captured.

The musicians took Liszt at his word.

Quite a day for unusual music, with Kyle Horch showing subtle control on the alto saxophone in its somewhat melancholic role in Rachmaninov’s eccentric yet utterly dynamic Symphonic Dances, where the orchestra brought out all its considerable shadows and mysteries.

The clarity of the opener, Richard Wagner’s complex and awkward Prelude Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg was outstanding, with the string section sweeping up the melodies neatly and some jaunty clarinet and flute lacing it with moments of charm.

The warm final applause indicated the orchestra had taken up where it left off at the end of last season – on terrific form.