There is cause for major celebrations in Canberra this year as the first CSO concert for 2015, with its packed auditorium, indicates that the city has matured as a cultural capital.

It has long been said that a city has truly come of age when it can support its own symphony orchestra. How splendid to see so many people turning out to hear the 50 or more musicians bring to life repertoire that traverses three countries, evoking something of the spirit of each.

Without doubt, the pinnacle of the evening was Sibelius' Symphony No. 5. Into the low cloud of the horn entry, Megan Pampling's oboe melody shone like a ray of starlight. It was as if this moment of pure music lifted the orchestra into a higher state; the cohesion and discipline lacking in the first half of the concert was replaced by a united sound and purposeful energy.

Through the orchestra's combined musical intelligence the audience was admitted into the extraordinary imaginings of Finland's best-loved composer. In the second movement (Andante mosso, quasi allegretto), the tempo was perfect, capturing the alternations between introspection and excitement. Exquisite woodwind sostenuto passages underpinned expressive, spacious pizzicato, the underlying resonances building to an organ-like throbbing.

The final movement featured beautiful writing for the strings, with references to mesmeric traditional Finish fiddle styles and a general sense of a great weaving movement of sounds across a vast lonely landscape.

It was as if there were two orchestras playing at this concert. In the first half, conflicting timing and inconsistent agreement on communication marred Schubert's Rosamunde Overture and resulted in a poor sound balance, obscuring the soloist for part of Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B Minor. However, 24-year-old Edward King proved master of the occasion, revealing a strong technique tempered with respectful engagement with the emotional core of the concerto.

King gave us something of his emerging "signature" with his structured approach to the chorded patterning in the second movement, drawing attention to the satisfying mathematical shaping of the harmonic progressions - an audible reference to Bach's delight in this process throughout the Cello Suites. In the third movement King took command and won back his rightful place at the centre of attention, strangely enough by asserting the necessity of his pianissimo solos to be heard soaring in conversation with Pampling's oboe. This was a glorious moment when the audience could enjoy the experience of a brilliant young musician playing truly "by heart", supported by the orchestra.

This first concert of the CSO 2015 season will be remembered for the luminous performance of the Sibelius Fifth Symphony and the moment when Edward King's playing connected the audience with Dvorak's deep love for his departed wife.