Performer: Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra

On the surface, this Verbier Festival program looked mild (Brahms and Beethoven), but in performance, it had the effect of dropping a lit match into a crate full of fireworks.

Age sometimes brings compensations: Mischa Maisky's total commitment to the Schumann concerto left Daniel Lozakovich out in the cold with Brahms. Meanwhile Klaus Mäkelä with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra reins back Romantic feeling in Schumann's Second Symphony.

Playing under its music director Gábor Takács-Nagy, the VFCO radiated joy for music-making; the very thing Verbier – and now Tsinandali – is all about.