MUSIC

There are orchestras that just play Beethoven, and there are ensembles that mix it up with modern music. For the BBC Concert Orchestra, “versatility” and “flexibility” are its bywords, so the standard 56-strong membership can expand or contract according to what’s on the program. Bring in a saxophone section and it’s an up-front big band, perfect for accompanying top-drawer West End artists. Increase the strings and they’re ready to play Elgar’s Violin Concerto with Nigel Kennedy. They are an orchestra, it’s been said, that is “made up of musicians all of whom enjoy crossing the musical boundaries … with incredibly wide-ranging tastes … [playing] as broad a repertoire as possible in as stylish a fashion as possible."