After the disappointments of the Leonard Slatkin reign, the BBC Symphony Orchestra has a lot riding on Jiri Belohlavek, who becomes the group's chief conductor at the start of the 2006 Proms. Goals, standards and morale all need attention if the orchestra is to reclaim its position at the heart of British orchestral life. Belohlavek may have nothing else in common with David Cameron, but you can't help feeling the two men might usefully swap notes.

It was hard to miss the uncompromising statement of ambition in Belohlavek's programming of a single performance of Mahler's Ninth for his final London date with the orchestra before he takes full command. The Ninth is the pinnacle of the composer's purely orchestral symphonies, and the kind of work that puts orchestra and conductor to searching tests. A bold choice, therefore. Whatever else this performance showed, it's clear that the BBC players and Belohlavek now know a lot more about one another than they did before.

Mahler's symphony encloses two shorter and more disturbing movements within two longer and slower ones of contrasting seriousness and dignity. Belohlavek proved to be one of those many conductors who reserve their best efforts for these big outer movements; the inner ones, rushed and pushed, went for less than they deserve. But the opening andante, emerging out of a series of short, cryptic ideas, was very fine. This wonderful movement is a test of a conductor's ability to maintain momentum while allowing room for moods that veer between reflection and wildness, and Belohlavek did all this coolly but impressively.

The great elegiac adagio that closes the symphony is more of a test of the players, starting heart on sleeve before resolving magically into the stillness with which the symphony disappears. The best performances are more searching and profound than this one was, but standards stayed high. There is a sense of great possibilities in this new and important musical partnership.