WHEN you travel the world performing around 80 concerts a year, you'd be forgiven for having to dig deep to muster up enthusiasm for a smaller-scale venue in a provincial city, wouldn't you?

This, however, is endearingly not the case with world-famous concert cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, who is positively oozing eagerness for his first-ever performance at Huntingdon Hall on Sunday.

"I love the area. I try to get there as often as I can," he enthuses. "I've never played at Huntingdon Hall before but I'm really looking forward to it. I've heard it's a small, intimate venue and I always like to talk to the audience. You get a better atmosphere than in a large concert hall."

Julian last appeared in Worcester 10 years ago playing the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Cathedral, and for his return visit to the city he has chosen pieces very close to his heart.

As an avid fan of detective and horror stories, Julian has put his own sleuthing skills to good use sourcing lost works composed by his father, William Lloyd Webber, a child prodigy organist who became professor at the Royal College of Music.

"He became disillusioned with the musical establishment at the time, so he stopped composing in the 1950s and gave a lot away, and he didn't compose again after that," said Julian.

Sunday will be a very special event, because Julian will be playing Nocturne, a particularly elusive composition of his father's that only resurfaced recently thanks to Julian's efforts. Nocturne will be followed by Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata in G minor, which Julian hasn't played for several years.

"My father wrote a lot of really romantic music. Rachmaninov was one of his favourites and it's a lovely romantic piece - that's why I've put them together.

"These pieces have meaning for me, but all concerts are special because you set yourself standards."

He is also to play Bach's Adagio in G, Bridge's Scherzetto, Britten's Scherzo-Pizzicato for Cello, Faur's Elegy and Brahms' Cello Concerto in E minor Op 38.

"I'm not playing any Elgar at this concert, although I'm very fond of Elgar. You don't always want to play the same pieces," he said.

While Julian, who turned 50 this year, has triumphed with tracing much of his father's work, two compositions remain missing.

"I think they're simply lost, but it has been a labour of love, and it's been quite an exciting experience. It's almost as if I've got to know him all over again through his music," he said.

Julian is widely credited with showcasing British music and bringing formerly obscure cello pieces to public attention. He is also hailed as "The Champion of Classical Music" after speaking out about the pop music overload on youngsters and his aims to shatter misconceptions that classical music is elitist.

Julian is sincere when he says how blessed he feels. "I feel incredibly lucky to do what I love and to get to see so many places. I'm very privileged," he said.

The cellist is as unpretentious as they come, and his desire to make classical music approachable for everyone is commendable. By that token, his concert at Huntingdon Hall at 3pm on Sunday will be a golden opportunity to see one of the world's greatest-ever cellists prove his point.