The Axe Vale Orchestra’s latest concert at The Gateway, Seaton, contained two small but perfectly formed little gems and one of the great concertos of the romantic period.

William Mathias was fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and also a professor of music. While better known for his choral pieces (including a work written for the royal wedding of Charles and Diana) the serenade which opened the concert demonstrates a real grasp of orchestral sounds. The orchestra was conducted in this piece by Brian Northcott who brought out the contrasts especially between the gentle lullaby of the second movement and the country dance feel of the third, as well as the scintillating orchestral sounds.

Peter Milmer is a GP and plays the horn in the orchestra but is clearly proficient at writing orchestral music. His piece, the King Across the Water, which he conducted, is rich in lyrical melodies some with a great Elgarian sweep others with a feel of seascapes (well, it is about Bonny Prince Charlie). The orchestra handled these with apparent ease and conjured up a rich atmosphere.

So to the much-awaited cello concerto by Antonin Dvorak. This has been a favourite of mine since my youth. Arturo Serna, who usually wields a baton, was the mesmerising soloist handling the magisterial big moments as well as the intimate ones. It was fascinating watching him playing passages of filigree delicacy with tiny touches of sound from the orchestra. The Axe Vale Orchestra really rose to the occasion in this great and complex masterpiece. The lovely song-like melody in the slow movement was a real tear-jerker. And the great crescendo at the very end was truly majestic.

I look forward to their next concert on February 26 which includes music from Bizet’s Carmen. Could you wish for music more beautiful or stirring?