Benjamin Zander's concerts with the RTÉ NSO stand apart from most of the orchestra's other work.

Gubanova, Lewis - RTÉ NSO Zander - NCH, Dublin

Mozart - Symphony No 40. Mahler + Das Lied von der Erde

The collective dynamic alters in a myriad of ways. The string tone changes, so that the weight is spread around the stage, and not just focused in the centre, where, with the exception of the double basses, most of the sound usually appears to come from.

The scale of the playing changes, too, so that more is achieved with less, with finer grading in the middle ground ensuring that the extremities of loud and soft can make far more of an impression when they need to be explored.

The character of the music-making changes too, with a frequently strengthened sense of individual character in solo lines, and suggestions of the interactive interplay that usually characterises chamber music rather than orchestral performances.

And these results are all achieved without apparent fuss, in a way that allows listeners almost to take them for granted. We should be so lucky.

The music of Mozart has long been effectively one of this orchestra's blind spots, or, rather, something of a blind spot of many of the conductors who work on it with them. Friday's performance of the late G minor Symphony was one which captured the work's many undertones without any sense of undue effort or strain, and, with lightened textures, allowed listeners to appreciate the extraordinary expressive richness of Mozart's contrapuntal mastery.

The lightness of touch, the overt contrapuntal concerns of the music-making, and the expressive potency were evident, too, in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde.

The tenor's burdens were heroically borne by Keith Lewis, and in the altogether more intimately rewarding alto part, especially the heartbreak of the closing "Das Abschied," the Russian mezzo soprano Ekaterina Gubanova reinforced the very favourable impression she made at the Wexford Festival last October. - Michael Dervan

Ulster Orchestra - Thierry Fischer

Ulster Hall, Belfast

Bruch - - Violin Concerto No 1. Bruckner - Symphony No 4.

However familiar a work may be through recordings, there is always a special thrill in hearing a good performance live, especially when the music has the beauty of sound and the dynamic range of a Bruckner symphony.

The latter quality certainly came over in this performance, though the former was sometimes compromised by problems of balance.

Fischer has at times been a conductor who has approached the standard repertory with brio rather than with patience, but his spacious and noble approach here showed an ability to take the longer view and sustain slowish tempi; too slow, if anything, in the first movement, although the tempo was - just - animated enough to give the second theme a dance-like feel, and one was also grateful that the scherzo, although rousing enough, was not hurried.

Rich, finely shaded string tone was the main asset of this performance, but one would have liked more of the wind, for instance in the birdsong imitations of the third movement, and less of the brass.

Bruckner's unaffected beauty of sound notwithstanding, his brass scoring does need to be treated with caution, and one came to dread the next blast of the trumpet.

There was equally warm-toned string playing in the concerto, for which the orchestra's former leader, Lesley Hatfield, returned as soloist.

She provided a good, warm tone, not perhaps the fullest we have heard, but not by any means thin either, and a natural feeling for the music. Fischer and the Ulster Orchestra provided a sympathetic accompaniment. - Dermot Gault