If many of the audience who turned up or tuned in to hear Mariss Jansons conduct the Oslo Philharmonic and Olga Borodina sing Berlioz's The Death of Cleopatra were initially disappointed - both had withdrawn from the concert - they should have gone away more than satisfied with the replacements. The Austrian-born Manfred Honeck, now the principal guest conductor in Oslo, took over the programme unchanged and the American mezzo Michelle DeYoung tackled the scena that Berlioz produced in 1829 in his third unsuccessful attempt to win the prestigious Prix de Rome

DeYoung has always seemed to me a rather neutral, uninvolved performer before; no one has ever doubted the sumptuous quality of her voice - even, velvety, perfectly controlled - just the extent to which she engages with what she is singing. But Berlioz clearly suits her well; she's to be one of the soloists in Colin Davis's concert performances of The Trojans at the end of the year, and this wracked and touching account of Cleopatra's final throes suggested that will be well worth hearing. Every phrase was loaded with meaning, every syllable savoured, and the tragic grandeur built inexorably. Honeck's alert accompaniment reinforced it all too; he and the Oslo strings made sure that all of Berlioz's rangy, searching melodies had point and the right expressive purpose.

The concert had begun with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, lithe and purposeful, and never sounding over-loaded despite the size of the orchestral forces. It ended with Ravel's La Valse, which Honeck turned into a nightmarish vision of a society in freefall, always controlled, yet driving through to the final cataclysm with biting rhythms and scary determination. The Oslo Philharmonic's playing was superlative - every section of this great orchestra is very finely tuned indeed, and they showed that they are capable of great refinement as well as extreme virtuosity. There were encores too - a bit of perfectly weighted Grieg (Morning Mood from the Peer Gynt music) to acknowledge the orchestra's homeland, a Johann Strauss waltz (Frühlingsstimmen) to signal the conductor's, who needs to be heard here soon in his own right, not as a replacement.

***** Unmissable **** Recommended *** Enjoyable
** Mediocre * Terrible