In his luxuriant tone poem Tintagel, Bax's portrayal of a romantic sea-scape is as vivid as anyone could ask for. While it seems ungrateful to compare it unfavourably with Debussy's La Mer, it is difficult to ignore the immense disparity between the two works when Tintagel draws so clearly from it, yet fails to match its passion and majesty, let alone its powers of construction. Mark Elder drew precise, vibrant colours from Bax's sumptuous textures, but even he couldn't compensate for its rather relentless grandeur.

Many cellists have championed Schumann's Cello Concerto, often playing its first movement with a robustness to match that of its more popular predecessor, the Piano Concerto. Steven Isserlis's gentle, poetic handling of the opening theme was strikingly different from most performances, allowing it to develop gradually from a shy beginning rather than stressing its drama all at once. Blessed with a supremely sensitive partnership in Elder and the Halle, Isserlis was able to draw the audience into his intimate soundworld, never once struggling to make himself heard above the powerful body of strings.

In a deeply considered and moving performance of Brahms's Third Symphony, Elder proved he can do largely with sound what many other conductors do with pacing and tempi. His tempi are characteristically brisk, his phrasing clear-cut. But while he avoids the long-breathed, reverent Brahms style, he doesn't sacrifice any of its serenity or magic. By combining classical precision with superlative control of atmosphere and tone, the slow movement's hushed clarinet and string dialogue were given room to breathe without becoming static; and the rather stark paragraphs in the first movement, which can easily sag, flowed gracefully. The final pages of the symphony, which moves with quiet assurance to a radiant conclusion, were transcendently beautiful.