THE first of two orchestral concerts in this year's festival, both conducted by festival director Janusz Piotrowicz, saw the return of the Leeds-based Orchestra of Opera North.

They started with an intensely controlled and concentrated performance of Wagner's Prelude to Act 1, Lohengrin, not an easy work to perform in the cathedral acoustic.

Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia, however, made little impression on me and seemed a rather uninteresting piece of music but, luckily, was immediately followed by the stirring and nationalistic Karelia Suite by Sibelius. Although I hadn't heard it for some time, the outer marches in particular were immediately familiar and, apart from some slightly muted brass sounds, it received a suitably bright performance.

These short pieces were, however, simply a prelude to Shostakovich's magnificent Symphony No 10.

Like many of his works, it is impossible to separate the politics from the music; Shostakovich's music had been severely restricted under Stalin's regime and it was only after the leader's death in 1953 that Shostakovich could return to writing the music he wanted, beginning with this substantial work.

The first movement is stunning and beautifully structured, opening and closing with the low strings followed by the violins.

Then some wonderful writing, and playing, for the woodwind, mixing solo and ensemble sections in different combinations or en masse in a delightfully balanced passage which contrasted with a sudden intense and frantic phase.

The second, angry, movement was unsettled if not tormented, with its sudden ending quite a relief and, in the Allegretto, the plangent repeated horn calls were particularly effective.

This lengthy and constantly fascinating work proved to be a great showcase and it certainly enabled the orchestra members to demonstrate their abilities in every section and Piotrowicz to show his power of concentration.

Peter Bevan