Mostly Mozart: Violinist Thomas Zehetmair with Conductor Andrew Manze

There are multiple connections between the work of Beethoven and Mozart's 40th Symphony. Indeed, Beethoven appears to have been so fascinated by the work that he copied out 29 bars of it into his sketchbook.

There is also a link between Mozart and Beethoven's Violin Concerto as this latter work premiered at the Theater an der Wien. This was the small musical theater originally run by Mozart's librettist Emanuel Schikaneder. It is often said that the long-running success of Mozart's collaboration with Schikaneder, "The Magic Flute," ultimately paid for the house's upkeep and construction. Moreover, Schikaneder served as one of the key figures who launched Beethoven's career. To that end, he arranged for the debut performances of the composer's first and second symphonies, and he even provided him with housing while he was writing his opera "Fidelio."

These ties between Mozart's 40th Symphony (sometimes called the Great G-minor Symphony) and Beethoven's Violin Concerto weren't made clear in the concert notes, but they were readily evidenced on Friday night in the fine performances of the two pieces put forward by the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra under the baton of Andrew Manze.

The concert opened with acclaimed Austrian violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair taking on the role of soloist in Beethoven's famously demanding Violin Concerto. Zehetmair started off slowly. At times in fact he initially seemed to be straining to be heard. In addition, he chose to perform a rather brutal and anachronistic cadenza of his own devising for the piece.

This clashed in style with the more dulcet cadenza which Beethoven himself offered for his piano transcription version of the concerto. Nonetheless, as the performance moved forward, Zehetmair warmed up, showing off a sometimes astonishing warmth and delicacy, and by the end what had resulted was something very noble and beautiful.

Then, after the intermission, Manze led the Orchestra in a performance of Mozart's 40th. This piece is said by many to be the composer's finest, even above the succeeding Jupiter Symphony, and the rendition conveyed its dark intensity and fierceness. There were moments when it seemed almost Beethovenian.

In all, the evening offered audiences two quite moving versions of two of the greatest works ever composed for the symphony orchestra.

The Mostly Mozart Festival continues through August 20 at Lincoln Center. For information and tickets, call 212-721-6500 or visit www.lincolncenter.org/mostly-mozart