27 *** Musically, at least, the Festival let its hair down on Thursday night as an enthusiastic and packed audience gave a rousing welcome to Romania's "Black Sea'' Philharmonic Orchestra in a programme dedicated to the genius of Austrian composers and entitled "A Night in Old Vienna''.

"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik'' was composed by that country's greatest son, Mozart, four years before his premature death in 1787. Written for string orchestra in four movements, this serenade is one of his most radiant works.

Conductor Radu Ciorei's sense of phrasing was immediately apparent in a luminous performance, commencing with the measured rhythms of the Allegro leading into the heart-catching melody of the slow Romance. The bright, albeit elegant dance rhythms of the Minuet, burst gaily into the playfulness of a final, coruscating Rondo.

Mozart was 20 when he wrote his "Serenata notturno'', a three-movement work for strings and (unusually) kettledrums, and Ciorei gave a sensitive account of what had probably been composed for a carnival in his home city of Salzburg.

Mozart was a great admirer -- and friend -- of Joseph Haydn. Among his enormous output of symphonies, 104 in all, is a tiny jewel known as the "Toy'' Symphony and was probably the first of many "children's'' symphonies written by a whole stream of composers. This is always a "fun'' piece and that was certainly the case on Thursday night, as the measured stateliness of the string section had to contend with a variety of soloists replacing the woodwind with birds, the brass with a deliciously tinny toy trumpet and the percussion with triangle, rattle and scarlet-painted drum. Set in three, very short movements, the soloists were obviously enjoying this musical joke as birds twittered, cuckoos called as the pace accelerated to the Finale in a flurry of fun.

The second half, devoted to the immortal dances of Johann Strauss, brought a rapturous response from the audience and, indeed, this fine orchestra positively sparkled as -- for the first time -- the full ensemble launched, with a roll of drums and clashing of cymbals, into the famous Polka from "Wiener Blut'', followed by the far more gentle and delicately fingered pizzicato of "Neue Pizzicato Polka''. The "Auf der Jagd Polka'' romped along at galloping speed, the exhilarating melody supported by the brass at full-tilt.

The famous "Blue Danube'' waltz illustrates perfectly his melodic inventiveness couched in breathtaking, yet always elegant rhythms and musically climactic "cliff-hangers''; this was an infectiously joyous rendition. The equally famous "Redetzky March'', dedicated to the Austrian army, proved to be the perfect, rousing finale -- except that we were treated to two encores, another polka and a truly inspired performance of the dramatic "Slavonic Dance'' by Dvorak.

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