The reunion for this prom of the BBC Symphony Orchestra with its former chief conductor, Andrew Davis, seemed a happy one - so much so that I wished for a meatier programme than this, which looked intriguing on paper but in practice seemed disjointed.
Amid three more garish scores, it was the classical geniality of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 23 that formed the evening's unlikely highlight. Paul Lewis was the soloist, and it was largely thanks to his rapport with Davis and the warm sound of the orchestra that this was such a satisfying performance. Lewis took a generous but introspective approach, playing - in the best sense - like a chamber musician. The turn towards the minor key in the first-movement cadenza, his impossibly soft playing in the slow movement - it was quiet moments such as these that made this familiar work seem fresh.
The evening had begun with a rare performance of Martinu's Frescoes of Piero della Francesca, and it was good to hear these three movements, combining piquant, folk-inspired stretches with broader-brushed, romantic melodies. Then came Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, in which, with Alice Coote having cancelled, the mezzo soloist was Petra Lang. There was no questioning her commitment, but these lieder are perhaps not ideally suited to Lang, who has recently been exploring the soprano end of her voice. Though she still has all the notes, she sounded pushed and overwrought in these low-lying songs.
Finally, we came to a work without which the Proms' survey of Czech music wouldn't be complete: Janacek's Taras Bulba, depicting a gruesome Cossack legend - three movements, three violent deaths. As in the Martinu, the orchestra's presence was diminished by the acoustic but under Davis's taut grip, the music managed to describe the warrior's queasy ecstasy of martyrdom. The final few bars, in which organ and brass suddenly let rip, were an exhilarating sign-off.
