What a smart little idea for a concert. Back in the pre-recorded music days of the 19th century, a person’s only opportunity to get to know an orchestral work would be to catch a live concert, or more often, to get their hands on a version for more modest forces. There was thus a lucrative market for literal transcriptions, or better still for more imaginative arrangements. Kathryn Selby’s latest concert programme By Arrangement offers three of the latter, and not only did they prove intriguing as adaptations, they generated first league performances thanks to Selby and friends Andrew Haveron – the SSO’s regular Concertmaster – and Timo-Veiko (“Tipi”) Valve, Principal Cellist with the ACO.

In its Piano Trio version, Haydn’s Miracle Symphony, arranged by musician and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, proves an amiable work that scales down nicely for chamber forces. Although the piano takes the strain most of the time, it’s never straightforward who is playing what. As Haveron revealed, the piano’s right-hand might just as likely be playing the first violin line, while the violin player tackles woodwind or horn lines, even sometimes the second violin parts.

The two string players here adopted a modest vibrato approach, which kept...