Originally conceived as part of a larger operatic score, the Polovtsian Dances present an exhilarating spectacle for orchestra, followed by the soaring Romanticism of Khachaturian.

Lara Dowdeswell appears as soloist in Saint-Saëns mellifluous and virtuosic violin showpiece, the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso dazzles with its technical acrobatics and lyricism in equal measure.

Grandly pastoral but with darkness ever lurking, Brahms second symphony was written over the summer of 1877, during a stay at the picturesque lakeside town of Pörtschach. This elegant and complex work brims with melody and emotion.