Carl Nielsen, the musical pride of Denmark, has never had a UK champion persuasive enough to lift his works – bar his Fourth and perhaps Fifth Symphonies – into the repertoire. Until now, that is: it's only a shame that Colin Davis has come to them so late. Still, it was invigorating to hear how much dynamism could be imparted to the composer's youthful First Symphony by a conductor a week past his 84th birthday, directing from a swivel chair.

It helped that the London Symphony Orchestra was continuing its fine early-season form, something already clear from its big-boned performance of Haydn's Symphony No 92, the wind solos gliding over the top of glowing, vibrant string tone. The orchestral sound in the Nielsen was equally vibrant, but under Davis this symphony was all about forward momentum. The first movement's rigorous drive conjured pictures of wide, open Nordic skies; the slow movement's melody, falling again and again on to piquant harmonies, was accompanied by constant undulating figures that came to rest only on the final chord. Only in the finale did Nielsen's inspiration seem to flag, the music getting slightly bogged down in rhythmic repetition, despite Davis's propulsion.

Davis is now performing Nielsen's symphonies in tandem with Beethoven's piano concertos, which renews his celebrated partnership with Mitsuko Uchida. She is ideally equipped to bring out the contradictions of the feisty yet uneasy Third Concerto: what other player can turn from thunder to sweetness and back again so mercurially and so convincingly, without seeming to exploit the contrast for effect? The slow movement began distantly but with absolute focus, as if Uchida were playing in a locked room. It was the highlight of another mesmerising performance from a pianist who always seems entirely on Beethoven's wavelength.