The long, sinuous song that is Vaughan Williams’s beguiling oboe concerto is something of a calling card for Nicholas Daniel. He won the BBC young musician of the year playing it and here he directs the Britten Sinfonia in addition to his role as soloist. It’s a huge work for any player (nearly 20 minutes of almost continuous solo work) but Daniel makes it feel like an easy stroll down a particularly English country lane. The MacMilllan concerto, on the other hand, is a seriously virtuosic piece, making big technical demands of its dedicatee, particularly in the hilariously hectic finale. This is a bravura display by Daniel, with lightly assured playing from the always-rewarding Britten Sinfonia.
• This article was amended on 27 May 2015 to correct the running time of Vaughan Williams’s oboe concerto.
