In the fallout over English National Opera's recent productions, it has been noticeable that their young music director, Edward Gardner, has emerged with his reputation enhanced. Given the possibility that the music directorship of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra might also have been his, Gardner's debut performance at Symphony Hall was fascinating - all the more so for coming so soon after that of Andris Nelsons, who just pipped him to the post. Gardner certainly made his mark here, but there is no doubt that the CBSO got the right man in Nelsons.

Gardner is naturally authoritative, with an incisive cut-and-thrust delivery and his own particular take on fuel injection, revving up the dynamic of a piece. It was used to striking effect in Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and again in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, where he whipped up an orchestral storm in a trice to accompany soloist Christian Tetzlaff. Apart from his beautifully hushed tone in the opening of the central Canzonetta, Teztlaff's approach to this concerto was gutsy, showing off the robust tone of his modern German instrument, but he demonstrated its - and his - adaptability in the gentle Bach Gavotte he offered as an encore.

For Gardner, the big test came in Mahler's First Symphony, not for nothing nicknamed the Titan. Again, it was the strong focus on the music's histrionics and its massive climaxes that was impressive, with the CBSO's brass section on blistering form. Yet Gardner was almost casual about some of the score's finer detail. In the finale, too, there were stretches which lacked the depth of insight that would allow the final triumph to resonate logically and satisfyingly. Nevertheless, such cavils do not preclude him from notching this up as an overall success.