Latvian composer Peteris Vasks’ Violin Concerto “Distant Light” was given its first outing at The Sage Gateshead, with Northern Sinfonia leader Bradley Creswick presenting a scorching reading of the stirring work.

The first gossamer note rose ethereally from the silence, before developing into a sad mournful song. The work’s flowing lines were drawn out with heart-wrenching feeling and contrasted with joyful bursts of energy, inspired by Latvian folk music.

Creswick took his instrument to the limit in no less that three cadenzas, bowing with such ferocity at one point that it seemed to growl in anger.

His last cadenza led into an aleotoric passage (loosely translated as the throwing of a musical dice) with the Sinfonia strings descending into a barely-controlled chaos, before subsiding into a sea of calm, with the work returning to where it it started – in silence.

Creswick and the strings then repeated the marathon for a post-concert dance, which added a new dimension to the work.

The young choreographer Anthony Lo-Giudice crafted a visionary interpretation; performed with style and athletism by lead dancer Molly Hodkinson, along with Rachel Jean Birch, Shelley Brettle and Kristin Kelly Abbott.

At times entwined and at others repelling each other, the dancers conveyed a sense of yearning for the unattainable.

The final fade-out, with Hodkinson disappearing into darkness, was a magical touch.

The evening’s main programme included Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives, offering 14 delightful musical snapshots ranging from 30 seconds to two minutes. Each one was a gem.

Bartok’s Rumanian Folk Dances brimmed with energy, while his Divertimento for Strings was delivered with elan.