Imagine the level of communication, commitment and musicianship you get from the best string quartets. Then imagine 45 musicians playing in that way and at that level, and you have an idea of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. This concert saw the COE teamed with an equally extraordinary pianist, Mitsuko Uchida, and the result was exceptional.

The programme was not an obvious winner. At the centre was Dvorak's Czech Suite, relatively seldom heard - perhaps because it's eclipsed by the Slavonic Dances, but perhaps also because there are few ensembles like this able to do it justice.

These five dances can be melodically repetitive at times, but the orchestra turned that into a virtue; the sinuous tune of the Preludium always seemed to be evolving. How such minutely nuanced changes in balance were negotiated without a conductor is anyone's guess. But violinist Alexander Janiczek, directing from the leader's chair, can take much credit for the responsive way in which the group tracked the music's ebb and flow.

The Dvorak was sandwiched between two Mozart piano concertos, numbers six and 25, that were, if anything, even more of a revelation. Directed by Uchida from the piano, these were very much a team effort, even if they inevitably took their lead from her subtle, intelligent and ever-so-slightly mischievous playing. Uchida favoured steady tempos, but the orchestral playing had an irresistible momentum.

Lending an entrancing sweetness to the slow movement and a dry, understated wit to the rondo finale, Uchida made the early concerto sound anything but lightweight. Then, in the later work, she drew out the first movement's martial second theme into a cheeky and anachronistic reference to La Marseillaise, before rounding off with a finale in which the repeatedly returning tune always managed to take us by surprise. How could such a familiar work still have us hanging on every note? It was an outstanding climax to an uplifting evening.