Tchaikovsky's ballet Sleeping Beauty was originally intended to serve as propaganda, drawing an unsubtle connection between the Romanovs and the splendour of Versailles and 17th-century France. As it turned out, the comparison between ill-fated monarchies was ominous, but the legacy of this music remains a poignant attempt to reflect and reinvent a golden age. Mark Elder and the Hallé relished in the sweeping elegance of the ballet music, and delivered the vital dramatic moments with power and authority.

The Hallé excelled in outlining the colours of Tchaikovsky's score, and possessed a perfect sense of balance, avoiding the temptation to overdo moments requiring sensitivity and clarity. Leader Lyn Fletcher contributed a sweetly communicated solo, while the symphonic-style presentation retained a strong sense of dance. Elder's expansive direction of the famous Waltz nicely offset by his dramatic bite elsewhere.

A semi-staged performance of an abridged Eugene Onegin dominated the evening. David Pountney had arranged the plain and direct stage action, although the presence of a stage director was scarcely noticeable. The musical selections - sung in English - were connected by a caustic narration supplied by Roger Allam, who represented a bitter Onegin looking back upon the arrogance and folly of his younger self.

The young Onegin was suavely performed by baritone David Kempster, in clear and focused voice despite suffering from a viral infection. Tatyana was warmly mingled with meanness. Lesley Garrett reinvented Tatyana as an English rose, initially seeming closer to Elizabeth Bennet in appearance than Pushkin's heroine. However, her later incarnation as an elegant married woman who scorned Onegin's adulterous advances was a compelling exploration of a conflict between temptation, fidelity and revenge. Elder's ego-less nurturing of the Hallé was ideally dramatic.