Berlioz's Roman Carnival overture might be regarded as a rescue operation that saved some of the best music from his failed opera about the 16th-century Florentine goldsmith and adventurer Benvenuto Cellini.

Conductor Stéphane Denève began well. There was a splendid cor anglais solo in the slow introduction. Unfortunately, things sagged slightly in the main saltarello section.

It lost some initial impetus and came over as a series of unrelated musical incidents. Gradually, however, the players reaccustomed themselves to the dry acoustic of the Festival Theatre, and the climactic ending blared forth in all its radiant glory.

At the start of his fourth season, Maestro Denève would do well to consider the aptness of some of the music he is offering in his programmes.

Having performed the third and fourth symphonies of fellow-countryman Albert Roussel, he continued his survey with the first of the series, which is entitled Poème de la forêt – giving it, indeed, its Scottish premiere. Composed just over a century ago, it does not make great demands on the listener.

There were many well-turned solos and – apart from slack ensemble towards the end of the fourth movement - the standard of playing was generally neat and tidy.

It remains for M. Denève to ask himself two questions. How might Parisian concert audiences react to having to listen to symphonies by the likes of, for example, Brian, Rubbra or Bax?

Over and above indulging his natural enthusiasm for the music of compatriot Frenchmen, as Director of the RSNO oughtn't he to be exploring some British symphonic repertoire?

Stephen Osborne underlined the very wide expressive range of Brahms's huge second piano concerto – the grandeur of the opening movement, the craggy Scherzo, the deeply thoughtful Andante and the fleet-footed lightness of the Finale.

The performance retained its vitality throughout – except for a brief orchestral lapse in the second movement.