Focus on the emotion

THE HALLE ROYAL CONCERT HALL

- By WILLIAM RUFF

NO-ONE could accuse the new Nottingham Classics season of tiptoeing gingerly on to the concert platform.

If you're going to celebrate the end of the summer drought of classical music at the Royal Concert Hall, you need something with plenty of snap, crackle and pop. And Shostakovich's Festive Overture did very nicely.

Everything about it bursts with high-octane energy: the brilliant brass fanfare with which it opens and then the lively theme which drives forward with pulsating rhythmic energy. The Hallé’s conductor, Kahchun Wong, was in his element, clearly enjoying himself.