Melbournians fly the flag for Oz with a walloping Royal Albert hall debut.

Tuesday evening’s Prom was the London debut of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with its Principal Conductor Sir Andrew Davis.

The opening of  Richard Strauss Don Juan was dynamic and precise, yet passionate. The early violin solo [*Dale Barltrop, leader in the first half of the concert] was singingly expressive, and was accompanied delicately. Sir Andrew and the Orchestra brought every corner of this early Strauss into vivid and pleasurable action, finding both a strong forte that was confident and effective, and  an expressive and carefully balanced piano dynamic to great effect. The build-up when Don Juan meets his end in a duel was powerfully expressive, and Sir Andrew and the orchestra dramatised the sudden and unexpected finale perfectly.

The youthful energy of this early Strauss was well caught, and was followed in this concert by Elgar’s elegiac Cello Concerto, the composer’s last major orchestral work. Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk gave a restrained and pensive performance, gripping the attention, and Sir Andrew’s delicate accompaniment, maintaining the mood throughout , until the Allegro finale which was vigorous and dramatic. Mørk played  p/pp  in the long, deeply expressive phrases in...