Phrases such as “the first day of new life” and “the start of the future” were being flung wildly into the air; and punters were certainly appreciating the new asparagus wraps. This was the first serious concert of the newly restored Festival Hall, and there wasn’t an empty seat.

Signature concerts, they’re called. The Philharmonia was determined to write inclusiveness into its signature loud and strong. For a start, 180 children from six primary schools in Lambeth, South London, assembled in the ballroom at 6pm to hear three months of workshops turned into an orchestral fantasia called Moving In. Then, in the main concert, Mahler in his Third Symphony beckoned to the flowers of the meadow, the creatures of the forest, and the angels themselves while the choristers of Westminster Abbey and of St John’s College, Cambridge, tried out the acoustic for themselves.

Human voices, like the instruments of the orchestra, really do spring into new life. I’ve never heard such a tintinnabulation of “bims” and “bams” in that ringing choir of boys’ voices – nor such a reverberant hum as the final consonants hung in the air. The female voices of the Philharmonia Chorus frolicked through their folk song, and the mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung looked and sounded ecstatic in Nietzsche’s deep midnight.

Mahler’s Third Symphony really was the vindication not only of the regenerated acoustic of the hall, but of the Philharmonia’s happy decision to take on Esa-Pekka Salonen as principal conductor from 2008. The vividly individuated solos, the chamber-like transparency of ensemble, and the assured pacing and structuring of the vast first movement were very much a result of his inspiration. Horns, brass and percussion found a new focus, and the offstage posthorn a new and magical balance.

This would have made for the perfect evening. No matter how engaging Oliver Knussen’s Violin Concerto, and no matter how well played it was by Christian Tetzlaff, this 17-minute first half really did seem rather like a dutiful nod to the 20th century and to a South Bank associate artist rather than an artistic decision freely and fruitfully taken.

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010