The Symphonic Dances was the last music Rachmaninov wrote, and in many ways, it is a summation of his life’s work. We hear his darkly brilliant orchestration, his heritage, and possibly for the first time in his music – an affirmation of life over death.

Mendelssohn’s immortal Violin Concerto is one of those pieces which is always fresh and vital, especially in the hands of the superb violinist Sergey Khachatryan. So too is Prokofiev’s tribute to Haydn, a gleeful appropriation of 18th century music with his trademark quicksilver wit.