It's always a great bonus to go to a concert and be bowled over by a piece you don't know. Such was the case with the Christ Church Festival Orchestra's performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, a work I have somehow never heard before. But in the hands of soloist Tom Wood, and conductor James Ross, what a revelation.

The concerto's opening allegramente has more than a touch of lighter-vein Shostakovich to it, although perhaps not even Shostakovich would have risked the sounds of outright laughter, played in unison by the whole orchestra, with which Ravel ends the movement. In telling contrast, he then follows on with a sublime adagio assai slow movement. Here, and throughout, there seemed to be a complete meeting of minds between soloist and orchestra.

"The concerto has some elements borrowed from jazz," Ravel told the Daily Telegraph in an interview. Soloist Wood now in his second year studying music at Christ Church won the 2000 Cambridge Arts Festival outright, playing as a jazz pianist. So he was in his element with this music, playing with great confidence and sparkle, but never showing off.

Ravel was book-ended by two orchestral heavyweights. First came Wagner's Flying Dutchman overture, with its exposed horn opening (the horns had an interesting time all evening). As both orchestra and audience were shoehorned into a Christ Church Cathedral side aisle for this concert, the effect was I guess a bit like sitting as a back desk player in the pit at Bayreuth. The concert ended with a performance of Brahms's fourth symphony. "You're going to enjoy this," a horn player remarked to a friend of his in the audience before it started. And indeed there was plenty to enjoy, with conductor Ross securing excellent ensemble and colour from his forces. Especially memorable was the sense of the first violins whispering through trees at the start, but exploding into a blazing finale.