It’s tempting to begin with a stream of superlatives that would absolutely be justified here (astonishing! impressive!), but in some ways that’s also selling yesterday’s performance short. Those sorts of terms are fine in that they’d confirm that, yes, the London Symphony Orchestra is a very good orchestra and, yes, Sir Simon Rattle is a very good conductor. What we got, though, was something even more special.

Here, Rattle and the LSO brought the audience into the music with a generous hand, deftly avoiding the sort of gilded-platter sermonising that can so easily come with classical performance in general. Rattle has long argued for the importance of the arts for all, and here we saw that ethos in action.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra at QPAC. Photo © Peter Wallis

This LSO tour (its first since 2014) has two separate programs in Brisbane, before continuing to Melbourne and Sydney (which gets a bonus third concert). This Friday night opening performance featured the music of Debussy, Ravel and John Adams, while Saturday’s concert features Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, a complex and difficult piece, which Rattle has...