FRESH from having launched the new season as music director of Royal Northern Sinfonia (RNS), with orchestral works Sage Gateshead's Hall One, Lars Vogt presented an evening of more intimate music making in Hall Two.

It was, as he put it, the chance to showcase the spirit of each individual player - not least that of cellist Louisa Tuck, who was completing her last week with RNS, before leaving for a front seat the in Oslo Phil.

The concert opened with Brahms' Cello Sonata No 1 in E minor, with Tuck generating deep resonant tones in the melancholic first theme. Vogt provided sympathetic backing on the keyboard, before coming out as an equal partner and developing a dialogue of passionate intensity with Tuck. The mood lightened in the ensuing movement, as the duo threw themselves into the lilting waltz-like melody. The concluding Allegro had an angry bite to it, as the two tussled through fiery fugal passages.

Continuing in their quest to Reclaim Mozart, the RNS played a piece the composer considered his best. Mozart's Quintet for Piano and Winds in E Flat was done full justice in an eloquent performance, featuring Vogt alongside Steven Hudson (oboe), Timothy Orpen (clarinet), Stephen Reay (bassoon) and Peter Francomb (horn).

The ensemble played with a sprightly fluency in the first movement, while the winds exploited the operatic qualities of Mozart’s score to the full in the melodious slow movement.

The evening concluded with Grieg's String Quartet No 1 in G minor, under the adroit leadership of violinist Tristan Gurny. The players invested the richly sonorous work with energy and drive. The Nordic folk dances and fiddle tunes woven into the score were a treat.

A great start to what promises to be another rewarding chamber season.

Gavin Engelbrecht