Arranged in the older European form under the Copenhagen-born violinist and conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Snaider – with first and second violins facing each other across the stage (perilous, if the hall acoustics are such that performers cannot hear each other) – the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra opened on Thursday evening with charming if uncharacteristically subdued excerpts from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The Shakespearean connection to Berlioz’s literary Symphonie Fantastique provided some rationale for the programming, and we heard the Intermezzo, Nocturne, and Wedding March. Mendelssohn’s Overture or Scherzo, the other most common excerpts of incidental music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, might have provided some interest in contrast to the Wedding March, which is much-loved but also much played.

Jian Wang. Photo © Xu Bin

Jian Wang’s appearance on stage for Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No 1 in A minor was greeted with enthusiasm, and not without good cause. The Chinese-born cellist came to the world’s attention in the documentary film, From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China, which was released in 1979 to much critical acclaim, just as the nation was emerging from the Cultural Revolution. Stern was invited to China for a...