Virtuoso performer at Warwick Arts Centre

The acclaimed violinist was made OBE in last year’s Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Birthday Honours List. And she got a warm reception when she took the stage in the Butterworth Hall. Her beautifully precise playing, alongside the energetic conductor/lead violinist Hans Peter Hoffman, was the highlight of the evening. The chemistry between the pair was a delight and Little smiled as she executed the cheeky twists in the finale of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 4 in D Major, K218.

The audience made up for their lack of numbers with long and loud applause at the end of the piece. And she must have been impressed with the huge bouquet of flowers with which she was presented.

Hoffman led the 20-strong orchestra through four other complicated pieces. Most interesting was the Polish composer Henryk Gorecki’s Three Pieces in the Old Style. They were very short pieces but played with great verve.

Equally brief was Elegy for Strings, Op 58 composed by Worcestershire’s own Edward Elgar in memory of his German émigré friend August Jaeger. Other pieces were Grieg’s From Holberg’s Time and Haydn’s Symphony No 48 (Maria Theresa).

The orchestra received warm applause for their hard-working performance, but the memorable moments came from Tasmin Little.

Peter Gawthorpe