Wagner learned a good deal from the expressive language of Berlioz's dramatic symphony Romeo and Juliet, but he nevertheless criticised its length and structure. Even in a performance as finely tuned as this season-opening account from the Philharmonia under its newly extended principal conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, one or two sections felt awkwardly crafted; yet for all its unwieldiness and the routine text by Emile Deschamps that stands in for Shakespeare, the piece contains some of the most electrifying orchestral writing of the entire 19th century.

Mezzo Christianne Stotijn's all-purpose oratorio delivery, though, did little to enliven her previewing of the familiar narrative in the choral prologue, but tenor Paul Groves looked forward eagerly to the evanescent material of the Queen Mab scherzo. Once they had moved on to the more secure ground of the purely orchestral movements, Salonen and his players delivered purposeful music-making, their precision of ensemble matched by the boldness of gesture and articulation that Berlioz's heady scoring thrives on.

Romeo's existential loneliness and longing were defined with considerable tonal subtlety, eventually combining with the brilliant revelries at the Capulets' Ball to intoxicating effect. Heavy with a sense of melancholy conveyed through a gently luminous colouristic range, the Love Scene retained a steady momentum, each of its successive climaxes carefully measured and positioned within the overall scheme. The minutiae of Berlioz's translucent scherzo, meanwhile, were unfolded with delicacy and a real sense of wonder.

There was also ample weight for the premature funeral obsequies for Juliet, with the Philharmonia Chorus holding to its monotonous course with sombre fatalism; but they were at their best in the symphony's grandiose finale, where baritone Gerald Finley led them towards the rousing apotheosis with swagger as well as determination.

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