Since the first concert in 2011 performances by the Winchester Camerata have become an established and eagerly awaited part of the local music scene.

The latest - in aid of the Friends of Music in Winchester - was no exception.

A full house heard fine performances of string works ranging from Mozart to Bartok and an exceptional reading of Vaughan Williams' Concerto for Oboe and Strings.

Under Andrew Moore's able and admirably unfussy direction the orchestra began with Mozart's Divertimento in D K 136, light, well drilled yet spontaneous sounding, and after the interval gave us the Notturno from Borodin's 2nd string quartet and Hugo Wolf's Italian Serenade.

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings was sonorous and lyrical.

It avoided sentimentality and built to an excellently prepared climax with some very accomplished playing from the lower strings.

Bartok's 1917 collection of Romanian Folk Dances was suitably rustic with some lively and idiomatic playing from leader David Blunt.

The jewel of the evening was undoubtedly the Vaughan Williams concerto.

Here was a relatively unfamiliar work, with all RVW's familiar hallmarks.

Put the listener anywhere in the score and its composer would be immediately recognisable.

Oboist Andrew Knight's performance was both mercurial and tender, maintaining the long line yet rich in detail.

The orchestra accompanied with splendid weight of tone and achieved an excellent balance with the soloist.

Written and first performed in 1944 the work was dedicated to the great oboist Leon Goossens and his spirit was evoked in this sparkling performance.

Bruce Edwards