THE University’s Orchestra, mostly undergraduates, assembled a huge ensemble of Wagnerian proportions to showcase their considerable young talent.

Howard Skempton’s Lento, written in 1991 for the same forces as Wagner’s Parsifal, was no rousing curtain-raiser. Its occasional subtleties of homophonous orchestration did not sufficiently counteract its overall absence of trajectory.

For Richard Strauss’s valedictory Four Last Songs the orchestra was joined by soprano Rebecca Ward in a satisfyingly mature interpretation. Her sure, clear tone and musical phrasing generated touchingly intimate moments, although her voice is not yet always equal to these large instrumental forces. Confident solos from Fred Standford (horn) and Christine Tan (violin) contributed to a moving and atmospheric performance, sealed with an appropriately mellow postlude.

Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů’s Fifth Symphony, from his 1940s homesick expatriation in the USA, had the stamp of authenticity right from the start. The first movement was assured and rhythmic, with excitingly punchy brass and percussion; the more relaxed second maintained the same urgency of purpose. Following conductor John Stringer’s reassuringly clear lead, the players kept their wits about them through the music’s considerable intricacies.

In the finale, after an intense, nostalgic opening, Martinů’s distinctive, challenging cross-rhythms in the allegro threatened to unseat the string section, the only instant of conspicuous uncertainty. When this syncopated theme came around the second time, it took wing and built to an aptly defiant, determined conclusion.

The audience departed with a jaunty, zestful encore of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance Opus 46 No. 8 ringing in their ears.