Whilst the title for this concert of early 20th century masterpieces may prove to be puzzling unto itself, along with the way the four composers chosen (Elgar, Sibelius, Ravel and Respighi) are drawn together into a program, there is little doubt that the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor Nicholas Carter are capable of highly detailed and virtuosic performances.

Simone Lamsma. Photograph © Otto van den Toorn

From its opening Wagnerian brass flourishes, Elgar’s underheard ‘concert overture’ In the South (Alassio) is a highly personalised account of an Englishman in the sun-lit Italian Riviera, the very place where the composer conceived this attractive work. We forget just how influenced Elgar was by the late German Romanticism of Wagner and Strauss and often In the South seems to be somewhat more akin to Herr Richard’s tone poems. And yet the march and military precision that we associate with Sir Edward’s particular pomp is never very far away. Here was the perfect opportunity for the orchestra to display its individual strengths with highly impressive work from the string, wind and brass sections.

Respighi’s Pines of Rome presented more chances to display the virtuosity of this orchestra...