The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of the redoubtable Vasily Petrenko, returned to Sage Gateshead with a programme of music that was at turns epic and dazzling.

First up was Ravel’s La Valse, a work written in 1920 as a choreographic poem for orchestra and featuring waltz music scarred by experiences of the First World War.

The opening bars wafted in through rumbling low strings, before melodies blossomed into a series of swirling dances, with variations taken up by different instruments.

Petrenko carefully crafted each theme, including a beautifully silky and sensuous central waltz. With cymbals crashing and brass blaring, the whole was driven relentlessly to a glorious climax.

The focus then fell on Rachmaninov’s popular Piano Concerto No 2. The composer was known for his enormous hands, well-suited to his fiendishly difficult keyboard works.

Pianist Alexandre Tharaud may be slight of stature, but it proved no obstacle as he sat down to give a towering rendition of the popular piece.

The opening notes were perfectly pitched, creating an exquisite sense of expectation for the drama about to unfold. And when it did, it was delivered in all its soaring glory. The sublime slow movement was lyricism personified, while the final movement was taken to even greater heights.

Tharaud for his part was purely focus on the task at hand. Almost self-effacting, there were no flamboyant flourishes, as some pianists are given to. The performance was all the more powerful for it.

The evening closed with Rachmaninov’s last composition, the Symphonic Dances. Petrenko made good use of the vast array of instruments at his disposal, including an alto saxophone that came to fore with a plaintive melody in the opening movement. The climactic ending was met with sustained and heartfelt applause and cheers.

Gavin Engelbrecht