Star rating: ****

WHAT a splendid little theatre is the Webster Theatre in Arbroath, host on Saturday night to the RSNO, whose concert marked the official launch of the freshly refurbished venue, and the culmination of the orchestra's Out and About in Angus project, a week in which the RSNO has played to 3500 people, including every pre-school and S1/S2 pupil in the region.

The stage looked ominous for orchestral music: a proscenium arch framing a box, similar to Stirling's MacRobert, where, typically, the sound is confined within the box and drops dead on its feet before it reaches the auditorium.

It didn't quite work out like that in the Webster. Yes, it was on the dry side for the classical first half; but conductor David Danzmayr's urgent, driving treatment of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro Overture and Schubert's Fifth Symphony transcended that particular limitation. Basically, Figaro went like the wind, at the speed you would expect from a period instrument band, and light on its feet with terrific drive. The Schubert, also very nippy, was delivered with bite and attack in a virile interpretation.

The real test for the acoustic came in the second half when the bigger band, including the heavy brass, harp and percussion, turned out a lovely programme of Viennese music, with, as well as the usual Strauss suspects - waltzes and polkas - some magical rarities unearthed by the engaging Danzmayr, who clearly captivated the 500-strong capacity audience with his anecdotal chat.

The conducting was dynamic and stylish, the music top-drawer, the RSNO responded well, by and large, to their young director, and the Webster acoustic turned to gold for this opulent music.