Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra New Year's Eve concert 2023

It was nice to see the lady musicians in colourful and sparkly dresses. Ruth Rogers, lead violin, looked stunning in a long bright red dress.

Stephen Bell conducted, in his usual inimitable way - lots of movement and intermittent banter between the tunes, explaining the next piece and its composer. At half time he even invited us, comme d’habitude, to submit any ‘groan’ jokes we knew.

What would we do without Johann Strauss II? His music dominates the programme as it does every year. Strauss’s father was a composer - and wanted his son to become a banker. Thank goodness the young Strauss flouted that idea, taking secret violin lessons from the First Violinist in his father’s orchestra.

Of the fourteen works in the programme, we had seven from Johann, the most familiar being ‘Tales from the Vienna Woods’, the ‘Gypsy Baron March’, and ‘Memories of Covent Garden’ this one laced with familiar themes like “The Daring young man on the Flying Trapeze” and “There’s no Place like Home.”

The concert opened with Franz Von Suppé’s Overture: ‘Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna’. Starts with a fanfare, softening down to a tender theme, delicately played by lead cellist Peter Adams, before it livens up with brass and timpani. The audience responded with whoops and claps - and that was just the beginning.

The programme alternated with similar-style composers of the 19th century and some 20th century musicians like Franz Lehár (d.1948), Erich Korngold (d.1957) and Canadian-born Robert Farnon, with us till 2005.

Soprano Ellie Laugharne was a treat for all the senses as she came on to sing ‘Mein Herr Marquis’ from Strauss’s comic opera ‘Die Fledermaus’. Wearing a long glittery golden dress, her delivery was cheeky and amusing, using a lot of body language. She’s clearly an actress, having opera and drama experience through her training. She has a dizzying list of upcoming operatic engagements singing lead parts

Ellie also put those skills to good use in Franz Léhar’s saucy ‘Mein Lippen sie küssen so heiss’ - My lips they kiss so hot. She held a lovely big red rose, throwing it into the audience at the end of the song.

She gave an emotional performance of ‘Vilja’, well-known song from Franz Lehár’s ‘The Merry Widow’. Wind instruments came into their own, introducing successive phrases of the song, with the audience humming along.

Lehár overlaps Strauss by twenty-nine years, bringing us into the 20th century. He’d been a military bandmaster in Hungary, known for his light comic operas before eventually adopting Vienna as his home, conquering the city with the military orchestra he conducted, and his light operas. His ‘Gold and Silver Waltz’, after the interval, brought Lehár the popularity that still exists now. Harp trills, timpani, percussion, wind and brass, and the orchestra stands at the end, to enthusiastic clapping.

We entered the 20th century with Erich Korngold’s (1897-1957) ‘Straussiana Waltzes’; civil servant and spare time composer Carl Zeller’s (1842-98) ‘Roses in Tyrol’ from ‘Der Vogelhändler’ (‘The Birdseller’) and ‘Westminster Waltz’ (1956), by a composer we lost only twenty years ago - Canadian-born Robert Farnon. We’re in England, where Farnon made his home, overlooking Westminster Bridge, listening to the chimes of Big Ben.

And of course no concert is complete without Strauss the Younger’s ‘Blue Danube’ Waltz.

Needless to say there was an encore. “Oh, go on, then”, says our conductor, as if the orchestra hadn’t rehearsed it already. And so we ended with Strauss the Elder’s Radetsky March with everyone clapping along. And Ellie returned for a song from My Fair Lady - ‘I could have danced all night’. And for that matter, so could we have done.

Stephen also read out some of the dreadful jokes people had texted in. “Why did the turkey cross the road? Because the chicken was busy.” Groan.

Before we left, Bell gave well-deserved credit to backstage workers responsible for the logistics of bringing this concert together: lighting; sound control - a large panel upstairs at the back; onstage preparation. Setting out chairs, music stands; unseen essentials that ensure a slick and effective delivery.

It was a musical extravaganza, performed inimitably by The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s what we came for - to forget the ups and downs of the past year, and leave in a good mood, ready to take on what the New Year brings.

Next concert: “Wagner’s Dream.” Ligeti, Berio and Wagner’s ‘The Ring’. Brighton Dome, Saturday 27 January, 7.30pm. Tickets: 01273 709709, or online. £40 to £13.