Variety is the spice of life, or so the saying goes, and proof of this is apparent in this concert by the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. The fact is that very different composers find themselves placed next to each other during this concert performed by Japanese guest violin genius, the 27-year-old Mayuko Kamio. The programme features two violin solos with orchestral accompaniment – Schubert’s Rondo in A major and Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy – along with the String Symphony in C minor written by Mendelssohn when still in his teens; and finally the only string quartet by an elderly Verdi, arranged for a string orchestra. Verdi wrote thus of his quartet: “I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad quartet. I know it’s a quartet.”