Waterfront Hall, Belfast

The playing which conductor Roderick Dunk secured left a lot to be desired, both technically and musically. In this Irish Philharmonia concert, although Bach's Third Branden- burg Concerto was performed with one player to a part (but without harpsichord continuo), the sense of stylistic distinction between Bach and Tchaikovsky was minimal, the Tchaikovsky in particular sounding but a wan shadow of its normal self.

Cora Venus Lunny was the soloist in Vivaldi's Four Sea- sons, also given without a harpsichord continuo. There was a lot to admire in this young violinist's approach.

She was light of tone and sparing of vibrato. And, while she engaged in occasional embellishments to the printed part, she avoided the excess of interpretative intervention which mars so many performances of this work, from both period-performance specialists and more romantically-inclined players. Yet this was not an engaging Four Seasons, although it benefited from the strongest orchestral playing of the evening. There was an overriding sense of detachment from the soloist, which deprived the music of that buoyancy of spirit which is one of its defining characteristics.