Cardiff this week hosts many of the world’s leading brass players in the Arcomis International Brass Event. In the opening concert all three soloists played quite unfamiliar twentieth century concertos which reflected the personality of their instruments.

David Pyatt was the poetic soloist in Knussen’s magical horn conceto with the spirit of Britten’s Serenade for tenor, horn and strings always palpable, especially in thegreat use of ‘stopped’ passages. The acoustic of the hall increased this effect and emphasised the wonderfully colourful scoring. The composer’s love of the instrument was obvious in every note.

Similarly Mark-Anthony Turnage’s trombone concerto Yet Another Set To brought out many facets of the instrument in music that took jazz as it’s starting point. The superb young virtuoso Peter Moore did battle with the large orchestra (augmented by a drumkit ) in frenetic outer movements that made great use of a full range of characteristic techniques such as flutter tonguing and pedal notes as well as employing a range of mutes . It was, predictably, Tine Thing Helseth who proved the biggest crowd pleaser in the trumpet concerto by the Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian. This has become a popular part of the repertoire with its sparkling Eastern European folk rhythms and tunefulness. It can rarely have been played better, with an easy virtuosity combined with great sensitivity and panache.