Stephen Hough’s Piano Concerto The World of Yesterday is a piece inspired by Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century; a world described in The Times as one of “incredible intellectual flowering”. Seen and Heard International praised; “Glittering cascades lead to the emergence of an almost embarrassingly beautiful waltz.”

Cross Eyed Pianist said it was a “…a richly textured, virtuosic and joyful celebration of past influences, rather than a poignant glance back to a better time. It’s full of warmth and wit, affection and humour: it made me smile, it thoroughly uplifted.”

Following this, music from Elgar’s Enigma Variations included narration from ‘Elgar’, played by actor Walter van Dyk, who brought illuminating context to each movement.

Seen and Heard International said, “The spoken narration, compiled by Mark Wigglesworth from Elgar’s own writings, gave us no more than a brief signpost for each variation, sketching the music’s character and background as deftly as a skilful annotator might. His performance, along wth the playing of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, continues to resonate with me: in my memory it may prove harder to detach them from each other than I could have anticipated.”

Thoroughly Good described the performance as, “Magical playing deftly summoned.”

The concert also received reviews from critic Ian Julier and member and supporter Tom Wickson.

To watch the full concert again click here (available until 29 March)