Concerto ............................ Korngold.............................. Sibelius the National Concert Hall. She was the soloist in Korngold's Violin Concerto, with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Colman Pearce.

Korngold's name is familiar mostly through his" superb achievements as a composer for film scores such as The Sea Hawk and King's Row were central in establishing the opulent style of Hollywood film music. However, before he went to the USA in the mid 1930s, he was one of the most prominent composers of concert music in Austria and Germany, ranked alongside Richard Strauss and Schoenberg.

In recent years his music has undergone a revival in Europe, and the Violin Concerto, which dates from 1945, has much to offer.

It was written for Heifetz, and Pip Clarke handled its forceful virtuosity with gripping panache, and with a technique which seemed flawless.

The NSO, with Leo Payne as guest leader, played with great commitment. Such complex yet lyrical music could have done with a bit more warmth from soloist and from orchestra, especially in the second movement. Yet this was a winning performance, and it was to everyone's credit that they immediately re took, with seeming aplomb, after a nearly disastrous slip by the conductor towards the end of the last movement.

Colman Pearce seemed much more secure in Sibelius's Second Symphony, which ended the concert. However, his balancing of the orchestra was rough, and pacing seemed directed by the more obvious events.

The strength of this performance lay mainly in the tone produced by the NSO. Its brooding tension and determination had a quality which remained gripping to the end.