At the tail end of the festive calendar, with the New Year performances of Messiah segueing into Viennese offerings, the Northern Sinfonia opted instead for an evening devoted to the music of George Gershwin. With soprano Kim Criswell as soloist and presenter, this programme focused on Gershwin's Broadway material rather than as a concert-hall composer, despite conductor Wayne Marshall redressing the balance as soloist in his two big piano works: Rhapsody in Blue and the I Got Rhythm Variations.

In a succession of glitzy outfits, Criswell did a fair homage to Ethel Merman with a series of Gershwin numbers, mostly famous but with a few less familiar thrown in.

There was slick accompaniment from the Northern Sinfonia and Marshall, the latter a low-key presence despite his dual role as conductor and soloist. The I Got Rhythm Variations, sophisticated and difficult to pull off, felt a little flat, but there was no shortage of energy in Rhapsody in Blue, Marshall racing through the solo part, with the orchestra hanging on to his shirt-tails in an effort to match his pace.

As crowd-pleasing festive concerts go this had plenty to recommend it due to the winning performances, but also to the talent of Gershwin himself. There aren't many Broadway composers whose songs could be said to be as enjoyable at the end of the second hour as they were at the start of the show, nor the melodies as fresh and inventive.