It's been a heavy concert going few days, four on the trot.  There was Nicola Benedetti looking great in a swanky black and gold number while elegantly and sinuously playing Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5.  Then a very retiring little chap in what looked like a Romanian hand me down suit thundering his way through the dramatic and romantic Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1.  He followed it up with a short contrasting encore that had more rests than notes in it.  On Sunday Donald Runnicles looking every inch the musical maestro with his long white hair (pity about the growing bald patch) steered his band through the peaks and troughs of Mahler's 9th Symphony.  How can so many violinists play at the same time and yet there be such quietness?

All very enjoyable but the best was undoubtedly the SNJO.  They played Tommy Smith's arrangement of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue which he had tweeked a bit, reducing the tenor sax's contribution in favour of featuring a wonderful Japanese pianist called Makoto Ozone.  I was sitting about three feet from the grand piano experiencing shock and awe at how his hands danced around.

There was even more shock and awe at Ozone's arrangement of Mozart's 9th Piano Concerto.  Some of what the band played was clearly kosher Mozart albeit with different colours (how he'd have loved a sax section), some was clearly pure invention.  But much of the piece was I assume a subtle blend.

In standard jazz band style there were solos from various players.  I particularly enjoyed a gentle and lyrical soprano sax solo.  There was an extraordinarily vigorous drum solo that seemed as though it could only end in the death of the drummer but which was gracefully brought to a conclusion by gentle encouragement from the piano.

It was altogether a brilliant evening.

Only one concert to look forward to this week unless I decide to squeeze in a piping evening but three plays in compensation.