Daniel Harding has emerged as an exceptional Brahms interpreter in the last year, so it was perhaps appropriate that he should close the London Symphony Orchestra season with the Second Symphony. As we've come to expect, Harding is immaculate in his ability to negotiate the complex relationship between feeling and form in Brahms. Even so, this was an unusually volatile interpretation of a work that has been variously described as "pastoral", "autumnal" and "sunny". The first movement was taut and surprisingly tense. The passion in the adagio was underscored by a weighty implacability, and the finale had an almost violent elation more commonly associated with Beethoven or Mahler.

Yet what most people will probably remember from this concert is not Brahms, but Sibelius's Violin Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann as soloist. Sibelius's mix of high-voltage emotion and structural compression again suits Harding exceptionally well.

Zimmermann, meanwhile, is elemental in this work, like some monumental force of nature that sweeps aside anything in its path. Sibelius, at times, demands something other than beauty, and Zimmermann allowed his tone to become abrasive. He maintained a remarkable intensity and drive, even in the triple-stopped reflections of the slow movement. Everyone was knocked sideways by it, and Zimmermann gave us Paganini's Variations on God Save the Queen as an encore, which was as witty as the Concerto was ferocious.

Harding's choice of opening work was Schumann's brooding, unstable Manfred Overture, with which he wasn't entirely at ease. The opening was solid rather than depressive, and Harding took a while to establish the requisite mood of manic unease. The LSO's playing, superb elsewhere, was less assured here, with momentary slips in ensemble intruding on the music's flow.

Tim Ashley Daniel Harding has emerged as an exceptional Brahms interpreter in the last year, so it was perhaps appropriate that he should close the London Symphony Orchestra season with the Second Symphony. As we've come to expect, Harding is immaculate in his ability to negotiate the complex relationship between feeling and form in Brahms. Even so, this was an unusually volatile interpretation of a work that has been variously described as "pastoral", "autumnal" and "sunny". The first movement was taut and surprisingly tense. The passion in the adagio was underscored by a weighty implacability, and the finale had an almost violent elation more commonly associated with Beethoven or Mahler.

Yet what most people will probably remember from this concert is not Brahms, but Sibelius's Violin Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann as soloist. Sibelius's mix of high-voltage emotion and structural compression again suits Harding exceptionally well.

Zimmermann, meanwhile, is elemental in this work, like some monumental force of nature that sweeps aside anything in its path. Sibelius, at times, demands something other than beauty, and Zimmermann allowed his tone to become abrasive. He maintained a remarkable intensity and drive, even in the triple-stopped reflections of the slow movement. Everyone was knocked sideways by it, and Zimmermann gave us Paganini's Variations on God Save the Queen as an encore, which was as witty as the Concerto was ferocious.

Harding's choice of opening work was Schumann's brooding, unstable Manfred Overture, with which he wasn't entirely at ease. The opening was solid rather than depressive, and Harding took a while to establish the requisite mood of manic unease. The LSO's playing, superb elsewhere, was less assured here, with momentary slips in ensemble intruding on the music's flow.