UTAH SYMPHONY, Abravanel Hall, April 26; second performance 8 p.m. April 27, tickets at 801-355-2787, 888-451-2787 or www.utahsymphony.org

Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique was on the program when Thierry Fischer guest conducted the Utah Symphony a few years ago. (This was well before he became the orchestra’s music director.) The Swiss conductor wowed the audience and musicians with his interpretation, and it immediately became his signature work.

It’s on the program again this weekend, and at Friday’s performance Fischer once again dazzled the audience and orchestra.

The intervening years didn’t diminish the sparkle and brilliance of his interpretation. If anything, it was even better. Since conducting the piece for the first time, Fischer has had the opportunity to finesse and hone the orchestra and shape it into a much better ensemble than it was when he was here as a guest conductor. And the musicians certainly played with precision and clarity. This was a vibrant reading that brought a freshness to this well known music and made it come alive.

Also this weekend are the premiere performances of English composer Simon Holt’s Ellsworth 2, a work commissioned by Fischer and the Utah Symphony.

The piece is based on the American painter Ellsworth Kelly’s work Painting for a white wall, a work of five equally sized rectangles of five different colors. The painting, and subsequently each of the five rectangles individually, were projected on a backscreen during the performance.

Holt’s piece is very structured, as one would expect, considering the strict structure of the model he based the piece on. But what is surprising is the unexpectedly monochromatic sounds he creates, so unlike the vivid colors of Kelly’s piece. Holt’s music doesn’t stretch anyone’s imagination; it’s music that has been heard since the 1960s when it was considered avant garde. Today, it’s just clichéd and  predictable.

Japanese pianist Yu Kosuge makes her Utah Symphony debut this weekend in Mozart’s powerful Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491.

The young pianist showed she is a wonderful interpreter of Mozart’s music. She played with clarity and a light touch and with sparing use of the pedal. Her interpretation was luminous and was mirrored by the orchestra’s delicately crafted playing.