A LARGE turnout on Saturday night for Jerzy Maksymiuk and the BBC SSO;

and no doubt from the buzz in the foyer that the prime topic of

discussion was the news of Maksymiuk's contract not being renewed. And I

can tell you this: the management may not want him any more; many of the

band may not want him any more; but he is still valued by the audience.

It was a good programme on offer: something new, something neglected,

and an opportunity. The opportunity belonged to Paul Boyes, principal

bassoonist with the orchestra. Mozart's bassoon concerto can sound like

a bit of a galumph, given the nature of the instrument. Boyes has a

pleasant sound, warm and mellow, and made it very much a lyrical

experience, playing on the expressive nature of the music. Very curvy,

very well-phrased.

The new was by Penherski, whose little work, Signals, is a kind of

Polish mini-Bolero; behind a galloping drum rhythm and bits of fanfare,

an orchestral texture begins to assemble. It accumulates in density and

culminates in a blazing major chord. Pleasant, though not strikingly

original.

Sibelius's Sixth Symphony has never found favour with concert

planners; a relatively restrained work, it doesn't have the obvious

dramatic or melodic appeal of its siblings, though, once known, it

reveals itself as a very clever symphony, of no lesser quality. In the

confines of the studio, it came across as rather more intense than it

should be -- harshly bright rather than luminous, feverish rather than

restless. Good to hear it though.