Conductor Kazushi Ono's performances with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales are always memorable. He has a sure instinct for moulding the sound of individual sections and, in turn, that of the whole orchestra. But in Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, it was Ono's own affinity for Wagner and his implicit understanding of Bruckner's tribute to the composer that informed his interpretation.

Imbuing the opening theme with an air almost of serenity, Ono was intent on realising long, singing lines and organic flow, where others might focus on pointing up the block-work of architectural structure. The solemn second movement with its Wagner tubas was also carefully measured to reflect its succession of ever-more intense statements, without overt ratcheting-up of the tension. The Scherzo found the brass section in vibrant form and, in the finale, Ono managed to conjure a lightness that again swept things on without losing any of the majesty of the climactic moments.

Such a glowing account redeemed the concert after a disappointing first half. François-Frédéric Guy was the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto in C major, K467. His playing lacked definition; he used the sustaining pedal so liberally it mushed up the tone and, despite Ono's best efforts, there was no rapport with the orchestra – all strange in someone of Guy's calibre. Cadenzas by contemporary French composer Marc Monnet caused more bewilderment: quirky, improvisatory passages with distinctly unMozartean dissonance, surrealist collages very much at odds with the rest of the work. The audience's relief at hearing the balm of the central Andante's Elvira Madigan theme was perceptible but, given another burst of Monnet in the final Allegro, short lived.