Great Britten

EVEN if the auditorium felt unusually chilly at the start, it would seem impossible not to award this outstanding concert a straight ten.

A Purcell String Fantasia isn't exactly guaranteed to set the party going with a swing, especially with director, Pekka Kuusisto, perched on his high chair, observing proceedings rather like a Wimbledon umpire, since his players already appeared eminently able to get on with the job.

But the moment tenor, Mark Padmore, started Purcell's Let the Night Perish, the whole experience suddenly came to life. Two further short offerings from the Sinfonia maintained some impetus before Mark returned for a tremendous performance of Britten's Les Illuminations, where perfect diction, outstanding vocal control and attention to detail were matched by the equally sensitive accompaniment.

From then on it was music-making of the highest level, with Steve Reich's Duet showing these highly-talented string players having a real ball in music where one slip could nevertheless be catastrophic, and which continued again later with John Adams's Shaker Loops.

Nico Muhly's Impossible Things (2009) was a complete revelation, once more combining the glorious voice of Mark Padmore, the highly idiomatic, yet wonderfully vibrant direction and playing from Pekka Kuusisto, and the superlative Sinfonia themselves in this specially-commissioned work which fitted them like a glove, a tribute to all concerned, and to the venue for making it all accessible.