The slow movements fared better, particularly “Il vecchio castello” (The Old Castle), with its langorous saxophone solo, and “Catacombae,” where the “Promenade” theme makes a cameo appearance in triple meter and minor mode. Still, the piece never quite took off. From my seat in the first tier there were intermittent balance problems, as when the snare drum and timpani in “Bydlo” rendered the strings nearly inaudible. Pictures ought be exciting, entertaining, and romantic, yet Slatkin's tempos were moderate, his conducting too self-effacing. It would have been better to make more of a splash.

Possibly Slatkin allowed the comparatively understated character of the music in the first half of the concert to set the tone for the second. The program opened with Ravel's ballet score Mother Goose, a half-hour of gossamer textures and swirls of transparent and masterfully orchestrated tone. One beautifully balanced chord succeeds another, but without much rhythmic variety or backbone, even when the composer called most to mind by the sonorities is Wagner. The orchestra played every note with poise, elegance, and grace; still, I can't help but think that the work belongs in its rightful place accompanying a ballet. It lacks sufficient variety or interest for the concert hall — especially a hall the size of Davies.

The concert also presented a rare opportunity to hear Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 1 with debuting soloist Lisa Batiashvili. Bartók composed the concerto in 1907 but it was unknown until well after his death, even though he incorporated the first movement into his Opus 5, Two Portraits. This early work, written before Bartók's style was fully formed, lacks the percussive drive, colorful orchestration, and spiky dissonance most closely associated with his music. Much of the concerto sounds like a stylistic ancestor of the contemplative “night music” movements of his mature work. Heard in tandem with the Ravel, this piece recalled the phrase “Magyar Impressionism” more than once. The concerto could almost be French.

The opening of the first movement, andante sostensuto, is especially striking. The soloist leads off with long, unaccompanied melody and the orchestral violins, then the winds, join in by pairs. While the second movement, allegro giocoso, starts off jauntily enough, it doesn't maintain that mood, returning fairly quickly to a more contemplative tone.

Batiashvili, a fine musician, played well throughout, with especially lovely tone and seamless legato. She phrases in the grand manner, in long long lines, and that suited the concerto well. It would be rewarding to hear her in a more gratifying and extraverted work — for example, Bartók's Second Violin Concerto.