Outside on the Harbour there was a definite feeling of spring being in the air while inside the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room it was a breezy summer’s day when the LA Philharmonic Wind Quintet gave a masterly recital of entertaining works. It started with Samuel Barber’s attractive Summer Music and the mood stayed balmy, with the occasional autumnal passage from Paul Hindemith, for the rest of the afternoon.

LA Philharmonic Wind Quintet

There’s a fair chance you will have heard some of the quintet members’ work before in the cinema, for they are all members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic who have recorded soundtracks for such Hollywood blockbusters as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi among many others. The group – Boris Allakhverdyan (clarinet), Andrew Bain (horn), Denis Bouriakov (flute), Whitney Crockett (bassoon) and Ricardo Barbosa (oboe) – not only exploit the rich vein of the established wind repertoire but also commissions new work as well as collaborating with top international artists both as a band and as soloists. Bain, who was born in Adelaide, was spokesman for the afternoon, saying that the ensemble came from...