Anyone who advertises their classical concert on Facebook with a picture of Lady Gaga knows, deep down, that it is going to be pretty special. Here was a prime example. The Cambridge Symphonic Players, featuring some of the University’s best orchestral musicians, kicked off with the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, Wagner’s famous four-hour operatic feast (and perhaps the ultimate tale of “Bad Romance”). Full of dynamic swells and long, drawn-out melodies, it would be all too easy to allow the orchestra simply to wallow in Wagnerian heaven. However, seasoned Cambridge conductor Carlos del Cueto took full command of the ensemble and produced a performance which was precise, controlled and yet utterly gorgeous. Resisting flamboyancy really paid off here, putting a refined stamp on this frequently done-to-death music.

Perhaps the Lady Gaga reference was not entirely arbitrary. Both she and Cambridge’s Kate Whitley are responsible for the elevation of raw meat to more artistic realms, one via an infamous meat-dress and the other via the opera-clubnight Bonesong, produced last term in the Zoology Museum. Appearing here in the alternative guise of Romantic pianist par excellence, Kate played Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 with real flair and, at times, real volume - something which is so often underestimated in performance. Unlike the Wagner rendition, this one prioritised passion over perfection, a move which enraptured the audience and prompted a huge stream of enthusiastic applause.

Maybe it was the too-cool-for-school advertising, but despite the heavy programme of German canonic masterpieces, this concert managed to maintain an atmosphere which was totally chilled. From the casual practising of parts five minutes before the concert, to the orchestra members who cheerfully doubled as piano-removal team at half-time, there was something impressively effortless about the whole affair. This mixture of nonchalance and brilliance (so Cambridge) is hard to achieve, but was impeccably demonstrated here.