Baroque repertoire has been central to this year's Edinburgh international festival schedule, and though this rare symphonic programme appeared to be free of its influence, closer inspection revealed that Bach was once again at the very heart of the matter. The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and principal conductor Ingo Metzmacher opened their concert with two works from the Second Viennese School, Webern's monumental Bach-inspired Passacaglia and Berg's Violin Concerto with its Bach chorale interpolations, and concluded with the Fourth Symphony by Brahms, the finale of which is another passacaglia on a theme from a Bach cantata.

Such programming could have suggested a performance focused on structural rigour and form, but it didn't work out that way. Metzmacher does not appear to be a conductor who is overly concerned with niceties such as articulation and intricacies of detail, but rather the overall sweep of the music. Webern's Passacaglia grew from its eerie pizzicato opening (a perfect foil for the rustling, shifting and coughing of nervous concertgoers) to a passionate, apocalyptic reading that made explicit Webern's Romantic heritage rather than the intellectual homage to the baroque.

There was more lush romanticism in the Berg concerto, though here it was more of a delicate sweetness as the orchestra gave soloist Christian Tetzlaff the spotlight. His reading was as poetic and intelligent as ever, but the performance lacked the profundity of a more structured, precise reading.

There was something rather reticent about the orchestra's playing of the Berg, but Metzmacher and the orchestra romped through the Brahms that followed at top speed and with plenty of vigour. It was exciting certainly, though a little more attention to detail would have been welcome.