Brahms struggled mightily to compose his First Symphony, so weighed down was he by the expectation that he was Beethoven鈥檚 natural successor. His Second Symphony came much more quickly and is a far more relaxed work than the heroic First. Brahms jokingly wrote to his publisher that the Second Symphony 鈥榠s so melancholy that you鈥檒l be unable to bear it鈥�, but it is a joke that contains a germ of truth, for although this is a predominantly warm and lyrical work, it is shot through with moments of agitation and melancholy before reaching its triumphant conclusion. The prodigiously talented Guy Johnston makes a welcome return for one of the great Romantic cello concertos, and the concert opens with a perennial favourite, Tchaikovsky鈥檚 lovely Serenade for Strings.