Perhaps it is the current international political turmoil that makes the CSO's latest concert repertoire so relevant and so exciting, featuring works which express the dynamic interaction of new and old world orders.

It is a mature program for an orchestra that welcomes challenge.

Maurice Ravel's La Valse - poème choreographique is a turbulent piece of music reflecting the momentous cataclysm of World War I that destroyed the society in which the waltz was venerated as a symbol of grace and refinement.

Ravel's music embodies an imaginary Imperial Court of the 1850s in which the famed Viennese waltz distorts into what the composer described as 'the impression of a fantastic, fatal whirling".

After a slightly hesitant beginning, the orchestra warmed to the score, exploring the waltz form from the initial view of swirling, intimate couples in their private worlds to a grander evocation of a majestic ballroom.

Suddenly the piece pitches headlong into Ravel's warped, reeling melodies that seem to dodge the loud explosions of artillery and swirl on into the future.

What a glorious pianist Andrea Lam is! Economical in style, sensitive in her interpretations and masterful in her understanding of the repertoire, Lam brought the audience inside the under-appreciated beauties of Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.1 in F Sharp.

Like Ravel's La Valse, the concerto describes the clash of different worlds. In this case, it was the Russia of Rachmaninov's youth with its rich musical legacy and the political unrest that spurred his decision to leave for a new life in the United States.

The composer's sophisticated orchestration maintains conversation with the piano, leaping from tumult to idyllic, filmic passages within the whole, and Lam navigated the contrasting mood-changes skilfully.

The second movement in particular imagines a new world of serene creative possibilities, while the third movement plays with a stylised, accented Russian dance, building great energy and exhilaration rooted in tradition.

Lam's encore, Chopin's Nocturne in C minor, Op.posth., was exquisitely played with a touch that recreated the descriptions of Chopin's unique delicacy.

After interval Matthew Hindson's work The Stars Above Us All, featuring the celeste and harp, came like a sparkling palate-cleanser. The sparse, ethereal score offered a meditative interlude.

Finally came Modest Mussorgksy's Pictures at an Exhibition.

The brass and percussion sections breathed new life into the Catacombs movement.

French horns, trumpets, trombones and tuba created lingering, rich textures, inspiring us to listen afresh to the layered meanings within the music.

Under concertmaster Kirsten William's leadership, the strings built their orchestral presence in the final two movements, leading to the climactic tremolo passages and majestic theme of The Great Gate at Kiev.

This well-known favourite was a splendid finale for the evening.