Pianist Freddy Kempf has been a star for a long time. A former BBC Young Musician of the Year, he started playing when he was four and was already giving concerto performances by the time he was eight. Although still only 33, his wealth of musical experience is almost making him a grand old man of the keyboard.

And certainly more than a match for the demands of Schumann's Piano Concerto, a work of such lyrical grace that it needs an unusually poetic sensibility to do it full justice. Yes, there was plenty of virtuosity, but it was always at the service of the music, eliciting its tenderness and slightly restrained passion. The close rapport between soloist, conductor André de Ridder and members of Sinfonia Viva gave this large-scale orchestral work the intimate feeling of chamber music.

Beethoven's 2nd Symphony is one of the composer's wittiest works, full of sudden changes of mood and rhythmic surprises. It only ever works properly if played with razor-sharp ensemble – which made it ideal for Sinfonia Viva who have become famous for precision and transparency. The first movement was played with great panache, whilst the scherzo and finale were buoyant and boisterous.

The orchestra's talent for subtle colouring could be heard in Ravel's evocative tribute to his musical heritage Le Tombeau de Couperin and in a new work, Fringeflower by new 'Composer in House' Anna Meredith, which exquisitely and with great economy of means, conjured up the Chinese flower of the title.

William Ruff