First things first – in addition to Elgar’s Second Symphony, Mark Wigglesworth also treated Lighthouse’s capacity audience by opening the concert with an outstanding performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.

The composer introduces the soloist by stealth, giving the orchestra an opening drum beat followed by a sinuous woodwind phrase almost as an invitation ripe for symphonic development. A happy marriage between soloist Clara-Jumi Kang and orchestra was forged as she responded with a commanding solo rejoinder. Lyrical flexibility and quicksilver virtuosity with consistently honeyed tone and beautiful contrast delivered compelling engagement and intuitive rapport throughout. When BSO’s string players lean forward to watch the soloist when they’re not playing, you know something special is happening. In this case, a combination of inner peace and rapture followed by a brief encore of solo Bach in which time stood still.

Thence to Elgar for a deep dive into his symphonic and personally elusive “Spirit of Delight” taken from Shelley. Mark Wigglesworth wrote the most telling and insightful programme note that nailed the work to the composer’s pre-WW1 times of international instability and social change. Contemporary and current relevance resonated in unison throughout this appropriately unsettling knife-edge performance. Every section of the orchestra stretched the bounds, pulling out all the stops to mirror the peaks and troughs of both the public and private aspects of the symphony’s emotional roller-coaster ride.

The layout of the orchestra with divided first and second violins across the front of the stage with violas, celli and basses fanned out behind significantly enhanced orchestral balance, weight and clarity. Back in the day, this would have been the practise of both the composer himself and Sir Adrian Boult. All-in-all an overwhelming performance shot through with a teasing ambiguity that the composer himself would have applauded just as Lighthouse erupted after the last chord died away into a state of potential oblivion. Is there a greater British symphony? Think on…

Ian Julier

Don’t miss the Digital Concert of this performance, which is available for 30 days online (until 28 March)