Gerard Schwarz's decision to open with Mozart's overture from Le Nozze di Figaro could have backfired. It is not easy to capture the spirit of such lively and witty music accurately when it is removed from its original context, yet it was coaxed along by a nice moderate tempo that was not too fast but sufficiently fresh. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's rippling woodwind was perfect, and the detail in the overture's opening theme was precise and assured.

Soloist Bella Davidovich and Schwarz were sensitive colleagues in a warm, lucid performance of Schumann's Piano Concerto. From the outset, the RLPO was texturally balanced, the piano supporting the music rather than dominating it. The Intermezzo communicated with a tender Mozartian elegance. The appropriately vivacious Allegro vivace concluded with a convivial discourse rather than a flashy helter-skelter. Although not a theatrical performance, it was aesthetically tasteful.

Conversely, in Mahler's Symphony No 1, Schwarz was vividly theatrical when required, and not especially civilised during intentionally grotesque moments. Schwarz convinced the audience that the opening Langsam is Mahler's equivalent of a pastoral symphony, with the delicate woodwind flourishes evoking birdsong without becoming tacky, and meticulous offstage trumpet fanfares. The Scherzo captured the style of a genuinely rustic dance rather than an aristocratic waltz. The RLPO made Mahler's parody Funeral March seem solemn and utterly sincere, and created an effective yet enigmatic paradox with the interjections of more trivial material. Best of all was the blissful ebb and flow of Mahler's sympathetic moments for the strings.

Mahler's voyage from the pastoral idyll to an optimistic bold conclusion after much pain and incongruity was radiantly conveyed by this compelling performance.