According to Gramophone magazine's new rankings of the world's orchestras - a kind of fantasy Strictly Come Philharmonising - the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is currently the sixth-best band in the world. Not everything in this concert of Mozart and Bruckner quite justified that exalted position. There were little insecurities in the trumpets, one strange false entry from the concertmaster, and the woodwind section didn't always blend mellifluously. But set against that was the beauty of the string sound and the intelligence and stylishness of the playing. And, of course, the presence on the podium of Mariss Jansons - surely the runaway winner in anyone's fantasy Strictly Come Conducting.

His handling of Mozart's Linz Symphony was a masterclass. Nothing sounded forced, yet a myriad tiny details shone like gems. Almost imperceptible tempo variations allowed that magical extra split-second for poignant phrases to make their mark. And the finale's gorgeous, gossamer network of themes was balanced with a care that would have seemed fastidious if it didn't sound so natural.

If the Mozart was all about delicacy and grace, Bruckner's Fourth Symphony allowed Jansons to demonstrate his command of long-range vision. What was remarkable was not only the startling variety of dynamics, textures, moods and tempos that he discovered in Bruckner's symphonic structures, but also that these vividly characterised incidental delights underpinned and unified the organic growth of the work.

Sometimes the sonorities had an organ-like splendour. One could imagine Bruckner the lifelong organist being thrilled by this orchestral evocation of his craft. But even more exciting, paradoxically, were the pianissimos. Receded yet shimmering, they suggested leaves on distant trees stirred up by a breeze, and pregnant with implications whose true grandeur would be disclosed only many minutes later. When Bruckner is treated with this quality of imagination, a discursive hour passes in a mesmerising moment.

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