The British profile of Jiri Belohlavek has increased considerably since his appointment as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, so it was instructive to see him on "home" territory with the Czech Philharmomic Orchestra in this Birmingham leg of a short British tour. Belohlavek was in his element. He was the CPO's music director for three years in the 1990s, returns regularly and, while their ease of understanding was unmistakable, so too was Belohlavek's authority, conducting the two orchestral works without a score.

The pillars of their programme were unashamedly patriotic, with Janacek and Dvorak framing a performance of Rachmaninov's Variations on a Theme of Paganini, in which the soloist was the young Czech star Lukas Vondracek. Of Vondracek's talent there was no doubt, nor of his command of the keyboard. But he seemed at a loss to find the tonal colour to match the emotional depths in which Rachmaninov indulges beyond the elegant virtuosity.

Dvorak's Symphony No 9, From the New World, may have been a too predictable choice for the main work, but Belohlavek's unsentimental approach and his capacity to highlight wonderful details of texture gave it a freshness and immediacy. Most often, it is woodwind playing that defines this work; here, the distinctive strings - with an earthiness, subtly refined when muted - held the attention. Yet it was Janacek's rhapsodic suite of three pieces, Taras Bulba, that revealed both composer and orchestra in their strongest light, the intrinsically dramatic utterance and characteristic timbre combining to make this an authentic Czech experience.

· At the Sage, Gateshead (0191-443 4661) tonight.