Russian Philharmonic of Novosibirsk

The Siberian capital's orchestra is no stranger to these shores, and Thomas Sanderling completes this season’s exciting trilogy of all-Russian concerts with a programme that opens with Shostakovich’s ebullient Festive Overture, one of its composer’s happiest creations. Alexander Sitkovetsky, a violinist of both brilliant technique and natural musicianship, is then soloist in Prokofiev’s G minor Concerto, with its slow movement of ravishing beauty.

As well as being full of Spanish colours and dance rhythms, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espanol is a study in virtuoso orchestration. So too are Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances. In them, the composer’s rich musical imagination was stimulated by the different phases of man’s life: ‘Noon’, ‘Evening’ and ‘Midnight’. The results are simply stunning.