The stage seemed quite bare as we filed in. It turned out that the first piece was Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for string orchestra. There were no chairs because everyone stood for this (except the cellists). The twist was that instead of a violin soloist, there was Carlo Aonzo, a mandolin soloist. The idea was that Vivaldi played the violin, and because the mandolin is tuned the same way, it might have been played on the mandolin. Mr. Aonzo had set himself a challenge to play this piece, and play it he did, very well.
For the encore, I believe they played the 3rd movement of Autumn, but as a mandolin orchestra. So everyone put away their bows, and held their instrument like a mandolin. Clearly they enjoyed the movement.
The second half was a Tchaikovsky symphony, but not one I knew.