This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Elgar, who, more than any other British composer, has become associated in the popular imagination with ideas of national identity, even though he saw his work primarily in relation to European mainstream. Wagner was a lifelong influence, and this provocative, thoughtful concert with Mark Elder conducting the Hallé examined the relationship between the two composers by placing Elgar's Sea Pictures alongside orchestral extracts from Wagner's operas.

The juxtaposition proved telling. The sensual mysticism of Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde looms over both the undulating lullaby with which Sea Pictures opens, and the ecstatic communion with nature evoked in Sabbath Morning at Sea, the central song of Elgar's cycle. The Swimmer's battle with the elements brings overt echoes of The Flying Dutchman's comparable struggle, while the broad melody that signifies final triumph has much in common with the assertive pomp that characterises Wagner's Mastersingers of Nuremberg.

However, Elder stressed the disparities between the two, as well as the parallels. The Wagnerian emphasis on morbid decay, exemplified by the beautiful yet sickly colours of the Parsifal prelude, is foreign to the world of Sea Pictures. Wagner, meanwhile, would have dismissed the strophic form of Where Corals Lie and its mood of genteel yearning.

There were occasional mishaps during the evening. Elder's raw, driven approach to The Flying Dutchman brought with it moments of imprecise ensemble. The mezzo in Sea Pictures was Jean Rigby, a late replacement for Alice Coote, whose cancellation record is cause for concern. Rigby sounded underpowered, but she sang with a dignified sensitivity that has been matched by few.