Cathedral Concert: Festival of Chichester welcomes return of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra - this is what they played and why it was so special

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra are old friends of the Festival, so what a joy to welcome them back for a year made even more special in the context of the covid vagaries of the previous two.

Beethoven’s overture set the scene splendidly before Elgar’s Cello C oncerto – written in Sussex at Brinkwells Cottage – held a packed cathedral audience spellbound.

This was a personal triumph for cello soloist Leonard Elschenbroich, who has performed with the world’s leading orchestras.

What an extraordinary talent he is.

This is a complex piece to play capturing as it does a darkness and sadness which requires the most sensitive of translation.

Then it was Tchaikovsky for the second half – a huge self-indulgent slice of arguably his finest symphony – No 6 ‘Pathetique’.

But the importance of this event is not merely the music – magnificent though it was.

The cathedral concert gives form and potency to this entire annual festival like the central jewel in a crown.

Since the loss of the Chichester Festivities more than a decade ago, year after year – despite the rude interruptions of the pandemic – the community has built a festival that just gets better and better.

No wonder this was a very strong overall comeback festival with large attendances and a number of sellouts – a huge effort in which the Chichester Observer and its arts editor Phil Hewitt are proud to play their part.