Equally exciting was to welcome two distinguished musicians to join the party: an old friend Karl-Heinz Steffens who took to the podium and piano master Paul Lewis who played Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto.

It was great to see the hall sold out – and to witness the reunion of concert-season friends after the summer’s lacuna, as well as the presence of new supporters maybe beginning their own BSO journey. Regulars or newcomers, we were entertained by a characteristically neatly-judged programme which opened with Vaughan Williams’ dreamy In the Fen Country and featured Holst’s magisterial The Planets, in honour of what would have been his 150th birthday on 21st September.

As for the music, which was why everyone was there, the immediacy and power of live playing by this much-loved orchestra came as a real tonic to the soul.

Following the pastoral splendour of the Vaughan Williams, richly brought to life, Mr Lewis embarked up on Beethoven 3. The first movement’s sprightly feel was tempered by moments of introspection, while the lovely singing Largo created a calm sanctuary from the world’s troubles. The Rondo-Allegro finale offered eagerness and the sense of sprinting to a gold medal finish like an Olympic runner: fun and flourishing to which the audience reacted with huge enthusiasm.

The Planets is one of the great monuments of British music. Hearing it live here, with all the vivid colouring that the BSO instrumentalists could bring, emphasised the remarkable orchestrations which moulded the individual sounds together into the miraculous performance we heard. Mr Steffens steered though each movement from the famous warlike Mars via the jolly Jupiter to the ethereally haunting Neptune, which was made yet more otherworldly by  the off-stage sopranos and contraltos of the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus.

As a start to the season this could not have been bettered. The wonderful thought is that this was just the opening of a series of concerts all round the south and west which run until next May.  Check up what’s on and book up soon. This concert was totally full – but the easy-to -use livestreams can be viewed any time, any place.

Tom Wickson 

If you missed the concert, fear not! You can catch up here until 2 November 

We also recieved reviews from:

Bournemouth Echo “This orchestra is an unstoppable musical force and this was the perfect start to the new eight month season of world class music making.”