WONDERFUL music, spectacular fireworks, enormous picnics and a lucky reprieve in a rainy day - all made for a great evening at Exbury Gardens this weekend.
A 4,000-strong audience turned out armed with hampers, rugs and deckchairs for the outdoor summer classics concert in the 200-acre New Forest gardens.
The excellent Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra performed classics ranging from the melancholy Barber's Adagio for Strings - once voted the saddest piece of music in the world - to the fizzing excitable Italian symphony finale by Mendelsshon.
Conducted by Baldur Bronnimann, the orchestra, one of the best in the country, filled the grounds with beautiful music as dusk fell.
However the highlight came at the end of the night as fireworks shot into the night sky behind the stage to accompany the lively Thunder and Lightning Polka by Strauss. Two bonus performances followed as the expertly choreographed pyrotechnic display brought the concert to a spectacular finale.
More than ten summer classics outdoor concerts are planner for the following months.
On August 14 the BSO are due to perform Last Night at the Proms at Broadlands in Romsey.
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