Barber of Seville Overture - Rossini

Piano Concerto No 2 - Chopin

Masai Mara - Brian Boydell

`Italian' Symphony - Mendelssohn

The National Symphony Orchestra's principal conductor, Kasper de Roo, kept the reins characteristically tight at the National Concert Hall on Friday night. In some areas this brought rewards; but the overall impression was that things were not being allowed to run as freely or as naturally as they could or should.

In Mendelssohn's Symphony No 4 (the "Italian"), for example, the steadily walking bass of the second movement was too note-by-note to create the relaxed amble this music should be. While much of the playing in this symphony was disciplined and well-balanced, the effect tended to be too edgy and hard-driven for such an optimistic, healthy piece.

Miceal O'Rourke was the soloist in Chopin's Piano Concerto No 2. Few concertos are so dominated by the solo part; so O'Rourke's combination of linearity and rhythmic freedom tended to mould the character of the performance - shapely but rather dreamy. The orchestral contribution was not helpful, for while the playing moved along well enough in the tuttis, it was sluggard and aimless when accompanying.

Despite the unassailable vigour of the Mendelssohn, which ended the concert, I found that the highlight of the evening was the preceding piece, Brian Boydell's Masai Mara, which was inspired by the composer's visit to Kenya nine years ago and shows a characteristic understanding of instrumental timbre. I was convinced that it would have benefited from a performance less preoccupied with rhythmic detail. But its highly coloured textures - one of its strongest characteristics - were well balanced, and the playing was confident and full of character.

The NSO tour is in City Hall, Cork tonight and in WIT, Waterford tomorrow night.