Atinge of nostalgia haunted Meyerhoff Hall last night.

On the podium was someone from the past - former Baltimore Symphony Orchestra music director Sergiu Comissiona. Before the concert, he joined in an affectionate tribute to Mihaly Virizlay, who was principal cellist before Comissiona started his stewardship in 1968 and who has just been named principal cellist emeritus after 40 years on the job.

There was a lot of looking back involved in the music on this stylishly delivered hit-parade program, too.

Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello and orchestra finds the composer trying to place himself in the elegant sound-world of Mozart's time. Kodaly's Dances of Galanta represents a trip to his own past, saluting in infectious melody and rhythm the town where he grew up.

The Tchaikovsky score featured the BSO debut of one of the latest young, promising talents on the scene, Han-Na Chang. She made the cello sing and purr, though not always with dead-on precision. A few soft, high notes lacked support; one or two emphatic ones strayed from pitch. But her poised, warm-hearted performance caught the almost giddy beauty of the piece, as well as its wistful undercoating.

Comissiona was a helpful partner and encouraged supple playing from the ensemble. Elizabeth Rowe's crystalline contributions on the flute yielded particular pleasure.

The conductor got things nicely riled up with Kodaly's vibrantly colored work. Here and there, the execution could have been even tighter, but the performance had a spicy edge. The clarinet solos by Steven Barta set off a beguiling glow.

Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony, which closed the evening, has long been targeted by cynics. Someone is always taking a potshot at its more blatant sound effects or its supposed lack of thematic imagination. Comissiona's insightful, commanding interpretation rendered such objections absurd.

He caught the first movement's moodiness tellingly and shaped the second unhurriedly, exquisitely; the remainder received a powerful thrust.

It was a great night for brass and percussion; strings and woodwinds had their shining moments as well. Organist James Harp covered up the limitations of an electronic instrument expertly, but his vivid playing just made the absence of A permanent pipe organ in Meyerhoff the more lamentable.

BSO

When: Tonight at 8, tomorrow at 3 p.m.

Where: Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St.

Tickets: $26-$68

Call: 410-783-8000