Free But Happy

‘Free but Happy’: that’s the motto that Brahms coded into his Third Symphony, and from majestic opening to sunset finish, it’s unmistakably the work of a Romantic with a capital ‘R’. That’s just the start of a concert that doesn’t hold back on melody or joy – whether it’s the great Arabella Steinbacher making a very welcome return in Prokofiev’s zingy concerto, or the wild mountain fiddles of Enescu’s flamboyant Romanian Rhapsody.