A piano plays a chord in the silence, and a chain of sound grows, swells, and breaks into passionate, endless song. No question, the great Romantic composers knew how to unleash emotion: whether it’s Tchaikovsky diving into the whirlwind of a doomed love or Puccini creating melodies to melt the heart. Or, indeed, Rachmaninov uniting a glittering piano and a sumptuous orchestra in a concerto that could have been written for our soloist, Boris Giltburg. “Every note pulses with life and warmth” was how one critic described his playing, and the same could be said when guest conductor Ludovic Morlot shares Roxanna Panufnik’s vivid new versions of Alma Mahler’s neglected love songs.