Bolshoi SO/Buribayev

NCH, Dublin

Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin (exc). Prokofiev – Cinderella Suite.

St Petersburg currently holds the upper hand over Moscow when it comes to international appreciation of its orchestras and opera and ballet companies. Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre may be down, but it’s certainly not out, as this programme at the National Concert Hall clearly demonstrated.

Yes, the excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin(which included Tatiana's Letter Scene, the Polonaise and the closing duet) didn't actually manage to penetrate much below the surface. The two singers from the pool performing on the Bolshoi's current tour were unidentified in advance publicity material and weren't even named in the printed programme. They were at their best in the duet, the soprano more persuasive in her rejection of Onegin than in her earlier confession of love, the baritone ardent as he confronted his loss.

The music-making went into high gear after the interval in a selection from Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella.The RTÉ NSO's Alan Buribayev, who was standing in for the indisposed Alexander Lazarev, delivered the music with a kind of theatrical glee.

The audience loved it, demanded more, and got it – a surging Pas de deuxfrom Tchaikovsky's Nutcrackerand a stomping, roof-raising account of the Lezghinkafrom Khachaturian's Gayaneh.